


Full Of Life Now

by Rose235b



Series: Barely Getting By [2]
Category: X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men Evolution
Genre: And a grandpa, Bisexual Pietro Maximoff, Dysfunctional Family, Erik Has Feelings, Erik tries to be a father, Family Feels, Laura learning about life in the 21 century, Life after the end of the world, Multi, Mystique is a devil not a woman but she tries, POV Alternating, Pietro tries to be a good dad, Queer Characters, Queer Themes, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, Teen Romance, The Brotherhood is a family, Whoops it is a long lost family member fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-04-06 16:49:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14061225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose235b/pseuds/Rose235b
Summary: Sequel to These Broken And Misguided Things - After the end of the world that didn't come, everyone needs to figure out what they're gonna do with their lives. With graduation looming over her head, Violette needs to think about her future. Jamie finds himself no longer being the center of her attention and makes an effort to keep their relationship strong. Both new and old faces come to live at the Mansion, prompting major changes. Pietro has to grow up faster than he can run, and try to build bridges he's already burned. At the same time, a new threat emerges from the shadows, mudding up the fragile status quo the mutants have achieved.





	1. Congratulations, You Already Are Meeting Someone New

John slowly munched on his breakfast, looking around the unusually crowded table. He himself stayed over at the Institute although the Brotherhood retreated to the Boarding House pretty quickly. Sitting in front of him was his ex-teammate, Piotr, and a few seats down Gambit was scarfing down eggs and bacon. More so, the blonde kid who was introduced to him as Havok was sitting in between an Asian girl he didn’t recognize at all and a tortoise someone called Spyke.

They were a weird bunch, he knew, but somehow they all fit in with the usual crowd.

Amara squeezed his knee under the table and gave him a bright smile, before asking him to pass the bread.

He could really get used to that.

* * *

 

Evan took the bag of food his aunt was handing to him with a grateful smile.

“You don’t have to go, Evan” She put her hand on his cheek, sighing. He could see her eyes glaze over. “There is a place for you at the Institute.”

“I know, Auntie O” He covered her hand with his own. “But right now, I’m needed elsewhere.”

She nodded, taking her hand off and hugging him tightly.

“Just, come back every once in a while, alright?” She pulled away, a lonely tear running down her face. “And maybe try to call your parents now and again.”

“I promise I’ll try” Trying didn’t mean he had to do it. He still wasn’t sure whether he’d stomach hearing his mom’s voice over the phone. “Goodbye, Auntie O.”

“See you soon, Evan.”

He had one more stop before he returned to the sewers.

The road to the Boarding House seemed surprisingly familiar, although he was at the place only one time before. He knocked on the door before his sense could talk him out of it. Come to think of it, he was really lucky that the exact person he was looking for opened it.

“Evan?”

She looked completely different than when they last talked to each other. Less panicky, more stable. He took a deep breath, choosing his words carefully.

“I wanted to say goodbye” He wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to say, but he went with it. “Since I’m not sure if we’ll see each other again.”

“Oh.”

Both of them stayed silent, Evan staring at her shoes and Wanda staring at him. He cleared his throat, finding the courage to look her in the eye.

“Goodbye, Wanda” His voice was full of emotion which he tried to hide. It wouldn’t do him any good. “I hope you’ll be happy. You deserve it.”

She sucked in the air harshly, her hand tightening on the doorknob.

“You too, Evan” She swallowed, her eyes dropping down to his hands. “If anyone does, it’s you.”

He grabbed his bag and turned around, walking off. The only sounds that followed him to the main road were the beating of his heart and gravel crunching beneath his feet.

* * *

 

For the first time in forever, Violette felt as if everything was falling into place.

Apocalypse was gone. She somehow reconciled with the Brotherhood. She had friends in the New Mutants. Her relationship with Kurt was going great. Jamie was safe and happy. She had a roof over her head and food in her belly and life was _good._

She was so thankful that the Professor allowed them to take a week off of school following the battle. Kurt’s leg hurt as hell so she dutifully kept him company when the worst pains hit.

“I hate life” He groaned, swallowing down painkillers. “Why do I have a high metabolism? I’m going through these pills like a junkie.”

“You weren’t complaining about your metabolism when you were stuffing your face with ten Gut Bombs one after the other” She brushed his hair back, smiling. “My poor _baby_.”

He pouted exaggeratedly, wiping fake tears from his cheeks. Violette giggled, leaning down and kissing him slowly.

“On the other hand” Kurt brushed her cheeks with his thumbs, wincing when he adjusted his leg. “The medical care is pretty amazing.”

She buried her face in his neck, more giggles escaping her lips.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“You love it.”

She leaned back, staring right into his eyes.

“That I do.”

* * *

 

Piotr looked at the spot he planned on knocking on before exhaling audibly. It wasn’t as if the man didn’t already know that he was in front of his door.

He knocked three times and walked in as soon as he heard a gentle invitation.

“What can I do for you, Piotr?”

“I wanted to thank you for convincing Magneto to tell me the whereabouts of my sister” He tried very hard to say every word as clearly as he could, hyper-aware of his accent. When he spent most of his time in the company of Pyro and Gambit he didn’t feel nearly as self-conscious about it as now that he was surrounded by a bunch of Americans.

“It was nothing, really” The Professor gave him a reassuring smile, motioning for Piotr to sit in front of his desk. “Actually, I was wondering whether you’d be interested in joining the X-Men.”

“Don’t you think I’m a bit too… Old?” He was twenty-one after all, while most of the kids were… Well, still kids. “Besides, although I’m very honored, I need to pay for my sister’s hospital bills.”

“You could help out Logan with training the younger kids for now” The man folded his hands into a triangle, leaning back in his wheelchair. “And I pay a pretty reasonable amount of money.”

“I-I couldn’t possibly-”

“Piotr, let us help you.”

That’s how Piotr found himself moving into the Institute at about the same time Pyro and Gambit did.

“Since when are _you_ welcome here, mate?” Pyro chuckled, punching Gambit’s shoulder.

“I could ask _you_ the same question, mon ami” Piotr rolled his eyes as he watched the two of them bicker and decided to focus instead on carrying his stuff upstairs. “And for your information, Remy had a long and uncomfortable talk with Wolvie about boundaries and it seems like you’re the next in line.”

“Shit.”

* * *

 

Out of all the possible visitors Kurt could have, he really didn’t expect Jamie to show up in his room.

“Um, hi?” He scratched the back of his neck, feeling kind of uneasy in the presence of his girlfriend’s younger brother. He thought Jamie was a nice kid, really, but it wasn’t like they were very close friends and him being in Kurt’s room couldn’t mean anything good.

“Kurt, we need to talk” Jamie sat down in his chair and gestured towards the bed.

Kurt obediently sat down, happy to stop putting weight on his leg. He was maybe being ordered by a fourteen-year-old in his own room, but he didn’t really feel like picking fights in his state.

“Is this about Violette?” It was a stupid question because of course, it was about this one person who had a huge part in both of their lives.

“I’m just worried” Jamie folded his hands into a triangle, doing a great impression of the Professor. “Your relationship with my sister seems to have become pretty… Serious.”

“Well, we _both_ are pretty serious about it” Kurt punctuated the word, raising his brow. “Where are you going with this?”

“And as we both know, once a relationship gets serious, serious things happen” Jamie completely ignored the question, continuing to stare straight at Kurt’s face. He felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze. “ _Very_ serious things.”

“Yeah, and those _serious things_ are seriously not _your_ business” Kurt folded his arms in front of his chest, feeling his cheeks color.

“She’s my sister, dude!” Jamie’s mask fell apart as he threw his hands in the air. “It’s gross! She’s, like, twelve!”

“Jamie, Violette’s three years _older_ than you.”

“Maybe, but she’s fragile and not nearly as careful about her heart as she should be when it comes to you” He huffed, standing up. “If you were Lance or hell, even Pietro, I know she’d be fine, she knows how to deal with guys like them. But she thinks you’re some freaking harmless marshmallow!” Jamie buried his hands in his hair. “She can’t say no to you!”

Kurt sighed, his hands running over his face.

“I know it very well” He swallowed, looking up at Jamie. “Don’t worry, okay? I really, _really_ love her and I have no plans to take advantage of her in any way, alright?”

Jamie nodded, still not entirely convinced, and walked over to the door. Kurt was just happy that he let it slide for now.

* * *

 

“Well hello there, _cherie_.”

Rogue jumped in her armchair, throwing the book she had in her hands at the source of the voice.

Was she pissed at him? _Very._ Have she deliberately avoided him through the whole battle with the Apocalypse? Oh _yes._ Was it one hundred percent because he was a sleazy scum bag? Well no, but the fact that he made her nervous and vulnerable wasn’t the point right now. Right now, she needed to avoid him at all costs before something once again fucking blew up in her face.

“Stay. Away. From. Me.”

“But that’s no fun!” He smirked, folding the book he, of course, caught and putting it down on a nearby table.

She didn’t move an inch and finally, he sighed, running his hand down his face. She could see his ring glimmer in the light.

‘ _You don’t really know a thing about him, Rogue’_ She watched as he carefully made his way onto the couch and scooted as far from him as her armchair allowed her to. ‘ _Not a single thing.’_

“I’m _sorry_ , Rogue” He put his hand on the armrest of her chair. She could see a corner of the card she knew he had in his hands, the same card he always gave her. “ _Please_ , don’t shut me out.”

She jumped over the other armrest and walked over to the table to get her book before making her way to her room, forcefully shutting the door.

* * *

 

For the first time since he was adopted, Alex felt like everything was turning to shit.

Apocalypse was gone, so he lost this one purpose he had in the X-Men. He was fighting with his parents. He had a fallout with his friends back home. His last girlfriend broke it off with him as soon as she found out that he was a mutant. He rarely saw Scott face to face. He wasn’t sure if he even wanted to go back to Hawaii and life was _awful_.

‘ _Maybe I can stay here for a while’_ Alex paced in front of Scott’s room, weighing the pros and cons in his head. He already felt like he overstayed his welcome since he’s stayed at the Mansion for a week after the battle. _‘Well, a_ longer _while.’_

“Is everything alright?”

Alex stumbled forward, catching himself on the nearby table and knocking over the vase which sat on it. It fell down onto the floor and shattered into a million pieces.

“Fuck” He hid his face in his hands, not wanting to look at his brother’s amused expression. “There’s no way they’re gonna let me stay here _now_.”

“Wait, you want to stay?”

Alex looked from between his fingers, before letting his hands fall to his sides.

“Well, yeah.”

Scott’s face lit up like a Christmas tree and before he knew it, Alex was being pulled in the direction of the Professor’s office.

“You’ll probably have to share a room with someone – hell, if it comes to it, I can share with you. We’re gonna have so much fun together, Alex! Oh man, I just can’t wait!”

Alex smiled at his brother’s back suddenly feeling like maybe everything was going to be alright after all.

* * *

 

Sam couldn’t sit still as they waited for Storm to return from the airport with Rahne.

“Woah, take a chill pill, dude” Ray took a step back, rubbing his arm which collided with Sam’s

“Sorry” He mumbled, trying to keep his powers at bay. They didn’t really need holes in any of their walls. “I’m just-”

“Excited” Roberto didn’t look up from his drama, popping a jelly bean into his mouth.

“We get it” Jubilee rolled her eyes, before going back to her book.

“You’ve said that at least twenty times already” Bobby tossed a jelly bean at Jubilee and chuckled when she caught it with her mouth.

“You know that no matter how fast you pace, she still won’t arrive faster?” Jamie threw his dice and sighed when they both landed on one. “I hate Monopoly.”

“Hey, stop it, guys” Violette looked up from the board, grinning. “It’s not Sam’s fault he’s in _love_.”

“Sammy and Rahne, sitting in a tree-” Amara slapped John upside the head before he could finish singing. “That’s violence, young lady!”

“I hate, like, at least all of my friends” Sam pouted, finally sitting down on the couch.

His leg started to bounce up and down at such a rapid speed that the whole sofa started to vibrate.

“I’ve changed my mind, get off and resume pacing” Roberto kicked his thigh, effectively pushing him off.

“Life update: I officially resign from the New Mutants” Sam mumbled with his face buried in the carpet.

“Too bad, since I’ve only gotten here.”

His eyes couldn’t possibly move to the doorway faster. There she stood, still as petite as he remembered, with the same dark red hair and forest green eyes. Her accent was as thick as ever and he stumbled while getting off the ground, the fact that he missed the sound of her voice so much hitting him full force.

“Hi” He breathed out, feeling his heart beating at incredible speed.

The corners of her lips twitched and before he knew it she lunged at him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him with the same passion she did during their goodbye. He instinctively grabbed her waist with his hands, closing his eyes. His thoughts seemed to blur and he could feel his face color because Rahne was kissing _him_ of all people and just when he thought that he was going to die she broke their kiss, burying her face in his neck.

“I’ve missed you” She laughed, her hair tickling the underside of his jaw. She smelt of forest and rain and Sam was in love, truly in love.

“I’ve missed you too.”

* * *

 

Lance awkwardly shifted from one foot to the other, feeling the skin on his fingers breaking under the thorns. But it was worth it because girls liked this shit, right? Romantic guys who gave them roses and cut their hair regularly. And he wasn’t about to give up his hair, so roses it was.

As soon as Kitty ran through the gates and saw the ridiculous bouquet in his hands she started to laugh and okay, that wasn’t alright at all. Lance felt his ego deflate as the little voice in his head told him that he was pathetic.

“You didn’t have to” She walked up to him and accepted the flowers. “Seriously, you didn’t have to. Like, I know it’s not your thing and I don’t expect you to do this sort of stuff.”

“KitKat, I really want to try though” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, feeling his face heat up as she buried her nose in the roses and sniffed, smiling widely. “You know, to make you happy.”

“It’s not the roses that make me happy, Lance” She set the bouquet down on the hood of his jeep, before taking his hands in hers. “It’s you. Yes, they’re nice, but they’re unnecessary. I couldn’t care less about flowers when I’m with you.”

“Thanks, Kitty” He leaned down, leaving a tiny kiss on her forehead. “I really needed that.”

“It was nothing” She giggled, moving closer until her toes were on his. She stood on her tiptoes and tugged him downwards, just so she could kiss him. “Now, where are we going?”

“So, there’s this carnival just outside the city and I remember you’ve said that you love carnivals, so I thought that maybe we could go” He shrugged. “Unless you think it’s lame. Then we can do something else entirely.”

“The carnival does sound great” She smiled, stepping aside to get in his car. He quickly opened the passenger’s side door for her. “Thanks. I can’t believe you listen to all the shit I’m talking about.”

“I just love to hear your voice, no matter what you’re talking about” He felt like biting off his tongue as he walked over to his side. “Sorry, that was horrible.”

“If that’s your ‘ _horrible_ ’, I can’t wait to see what your ‘ _awesome_ ’ looks like.”

* * *

 

“I’m going to try to find our mother.”

Rogue knew he was going to say that. She could see it in his eyes as soon as he stepped into her room. She sighed, patting her bed right in front of her. Kurt sat there, folding his hands in his lap.

“Why would you, sugar?” She brushed his knee with her hand. “We’re free of her for once in our lives, Kurt. Why would you try to bring her back to them?”

“Because you still haven’t forgiven her” He took her hand in his and she felt disappointed that he still felt the need to use his watch in front of her. “And come to think of it, neither have I. It’s not healthy, Rogue. We can’t stay bitter over her our whole lives.”

“Kurt, the last time you’ve tried getting me to forgive her, I pushed her off a cliff” She slipped her hand out of his grip, retreating it back to her book. She raised it up, finding cover behind it. “It doesn’t seem like a very good idea to me.”

Kurt sighed, slipping off her bed and slowly walking towards her door.

“Just consider it, Rogue” His voice was soft and seemed to belong to a much younger boy. “For me.”

She pushed her nose into her book, not wanting to see Kurt close the door behind himself.

* * *

 

Tabitha has been gradually packing her bags over the course of the two weeks she spent at the Institute. When finally the only things left on her side of the room – the other still being used by Amara – were her pajamas, she figured it was time to run off, as always.

It was around two. Amara was asleep, snoring in a very unladylike manner she’d be disgusted by if she knew. Tabby picked up her duffel bag and slowly opened the door, wincing quietly when it’s creaking ripped through the silence of the night. She sneaked out on her tiptoes, checking over her shoulder every few seconds to make sure no one was making a quick bathroom break in the middle of the night.

She was almost at the top of the stairs when a giant came out of nowhere, her face colliding with a huge, firm chest.

“Exactly how tall a person can be?” She whispered, rubbing her forehead.

“I’m 199 centimeters if that’s what you’re asking” It was Colossus, with a cup of tea in one hand and a half-eaten banana in the other. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, you know, just walking around.”

“At two in the morning? With a bag on your shoulder?”

“I like to exercise and I’m too poor for dumbbells.”

“That’s a very bad lie.”

Tabitha sighed, letting her bag fall to the ground.

“Okay, you’ve got me, sweetie. How about I go back to my room, you go back to yours and we both forget about this?”

“Why are you trying to run away?”

“You see, you’re quite new here, so I’m going to fill you in. It’s this thing I do” She patted his bare shoulder, smiling widely. “I stay for a week or so, then run off and come back in a month or two. You should try it, it’s very refreshing. Keeps you on your toes.”

They stood there in silence for a minute, Tabitha staring at the cup of tea and Piotr staring at her face.

“Do you maybe want to talk about it?”

You could hear how awkward he felt in the tone of his voice and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other constantly, as if he was getting ready to run himself.

“Actually, I kind of do.”

That’s how Tabitha found herself sitting with pretty much a total stranger in the kitchen, sipping tea and talking about the mess her life was and her feelings and pretty much everything you shouldn’t talk to a total stranger about. But although Piotr had this air of stiffness and awkwardness around him, he was a very good listener and somehow something told her that it was okay to share this with him.


	2. I Seem Like an Adult But I'm Actually a Child That is Really Tall

Pietro was in shackles, feeling as if his whole world was about to fall apart.

He somehow managed to talk the Brotherhood into letting him bring his daughter to Bayville.

So, at the beginning of December Pietro ran to Norway. He couldn't look Crystal's sister in the eyes as she handed him Luna and instead, focused on the small human being in his arms.

She was beautiful, with short and so very soft blonde hair and blue eyes and he couldn't help but fall in love with her a bit more.

She didn't seem to like him just as much, though.

She cried during the whole trip back to Bayville. Hell, she cried during the whole first day he had her. He was sure Lance was going to bury them all alive. He himself almost started to cry in the middle of the day, but Freddy – oh, _Freddy_ – took her out of his arms for a second and just sat down with her, talking to her in a calming manner. She was asleep after a minute.

"H-How?"

"You're panicking" He explained, transferring her into Pietro's arms. "She can see that. You're scared and so is she."

Of course, Pietro was panicking. The word she uttered the most between painful to hear cries was ' _mama'_ and that broke his already shredded heart.

He nodded to Fred, thanking him and slowly making his way upstairs. For once in his life, he felt like going slow, the weight of Luna in his arms keeping him grounded.

He needed to get a job. Or something at least resembling a job. Lance couldn't possibly provide money for a kid _that wasn't even fucking his_ and five almost adults with his job at a garage. They weren't ever really rich (except for that one glorious week or so) and a child couldn't possibly help with that.

But how was he supposed to get a job when he had Luna to take care of? It was Lance's only condition, that he took care of her himself, with the guys and Wanda helping only a tiny bit when it was necessary. And he didn't feel like giving up the time he had with her – he already missed _so much_ , how was he supposed to willingly sacrifice _more_? What if something happened to her and he wasn't _there_? He hugged Luna closer to his chest, the sudden feeling of dread washing over him.

He had to focus solely on her for a while. He wasn't ready to part with her, even for a second.

* * *

Lance didn't really like kids at all.

Back in the orphanage he didn't have many friends and he wasn't overly fond of the younger kids – they used to follow him around, as if he was a freaking duck and they were his ducklings, copying his every move. He hated that, he preferred being alone with his thoughts than having a cult following.

Plus, kids were horrible. They just ate, shitted, slept and cried. And Lance was never a very patient person, so he got incredibly sick of them very quickly.

And that's exactly why he insisted on Kitty rescuing him by taking her out almost every day since the kid's arrival.

He respected that Pietro wanted to take care of her and be a real father. Hell, he thought that it was incredible that he even _thought_ about taking responsibility for his kid. Great. Awesome.

The thing was, between work and bills and life Lance wasn't really all for living with a child. But it's not like he could kick Pietro out. They were a team, a _family_. There was no way he was leaving anyone behind.

And so Lance was waiting for Kitty – who told him specifically _not_ to pick her up because Logan wasn't very friendly to anyone since Pyro and Gambit moved in – to arrive so they could go out for a movie when he saw something squirm on the couch. He sighed, putting down his glass of water to inspect the scene and sure enough, there was Pietro, sleeping on the couch with Luna shifting in his arms. He watched as the girl's face twisted to that of discomfort as she started to become more alert. She was surely about to cry.

Normally, Lance would ignore her, knowing that in a second Pietro would be awake and take care of that, but he looked at Pietro's face and _winced._ The guy's skin became almost grey, his hair was a mess and the circles under his eyes were almost black. So Lance took pity on him and delicately lifted the girl into his arms, walking out of the living room and to her room. He sat her down on the carpet, thinking that she'd probably walk over to some toys or something, but she just stood up and started to tug on his jeans.

"What do you want?" He furrowed his brows, confused as to why she would suddenly start to giggle. "Are you possessed or something?"

"Doll" She pointed to the two stuffed dolls on the floor and looked up at him with a smile, before tugging at her ear.

"No way."

Twenty minutes later Kitty walked into the Boarding House and found him on the floor of Luna's room, holding a doll and saying the stupidest shit about tea and castles and whatnot, since the next word Luna said to him was ' _Cess_ ' and pointed toward the crown sewn onto the dolls head.

"It's not what it looks like" Lance felt his cheeks flush as he stood up and tossed the doll aside. Luna immediately started to whine and he reached for the doll, trying to calm her down. "Shit. It's okay sweetie, nothing to worry about, see? Princess is alright, everything's fine."

Luna sniffed a bit and reached her small arms for him and he complied, hugging the girl.

"Aww."

"Not a word, KitKat."

Luna snuggled into him and after a few seconds wormed her way out of his arms and walked over to Kitty, curiosity written on her face.

"Hi" Kitty waved to her and leaned in, a bright smile appearing on her face and Lance felt something inside him shift as she laughed when Luna latched onto her pink sweater. "She's adorable" Luna played with the fabric for a second before sitting down, tugging Kitty with her. Kitty's laugh got louder as the girl reached for her doll, stuffing it into Kitty's hands. "Do you think we could like, maybe just stay in? Since she clearly wants to play?"

"Her name's Luna" He couldn't believe that he never mentioned it to Kitty. Sure, she knew that Pietro brought his daughter into their house, but she never asked questions about it. "And sure."

* * *

Pietro woke up and started to panic, knowing that there should be Luna in his arms. He ran around the house – _no Luna, but Freddy's cooking, Todd's taking a shower, so she's not here, Wanda would never let anyone into her room._ Half a second later he was in the doorway of Luna's bedroom, letting out a huge sigh when he saw her sitting on the floor with Lance.

"You've got quite the timing" Lance stood up and stretched, yawning. "Kitty just went back home a minute ago."

"Kitty was here?" What if she told someone? Well, surely Lance already told her about Luna, but he didn't want the X-geeks to know. It was already bad that he babbled it out to Violette. What if Daniels found out? What if _Tabby_ found out?

"Yeah" Lance patted his shoulder, walking to his room. "You're welcome and no, it wasn't a problem to look after Luna."

"Sorry" He had to stop panicking. Freddy already told him it would get him nowhere. "Thanks."

Lance was about to turn around, surely to tease Pietro about something like they usually did when they heard the door slam open. They exchanged a look and Pietro was immediately by Luna's side, gathering her into his arms and running over to the window, ready to get the hell out-

They were surrounded. He could see the cars around their house and a few jets in the air. He felt his heart beating out of his chest and squeezed Luna tighter.

' _They can't take her away.'_

"Hello, boys" He could hear a booming voice come from downstairs. Wanda walked out of her room, her hands in front of her, ready to strike. Pietro could hear Todd yell as he slipped out of the bathtub. "And girl. I'm only here to talk. Don't worry, we won't harm anyone."

Todd stumbled out of the bathroom, tugging his jeans on. Lance started to calmly come down the stairs, with Wanda not far behind. Todd looked at Pietro and when the older boy gave him a nod, followed after them.

"Mr. Maximoff, don't worry, we aren't here to harm your child."

"Then what's with the agents in our backyard?" Of course, they knew about Luna.

"Just a precaution" The man smiled when Pietro slowly walked down with Luna in his arms. She didn't look too happy, but Pietro wouldn't risk leaving her alone. "Great. I have an offer for you lot."

Pietro refused to sit on the couch, opting to stand near the kitchen door if he needed a quick escape route. Wanda stood on the other side of the room, her eyes never leaving Pietro's. Todd sat on the armrest of the couch, only a meter away from him. Lance sat in his armchair, while Freddy moved to the couch.

Nick Fury was left with standing in the corner of the room, surrounded by the strategically placed Brotherhood members. Pietro shifted Luna to his left side, bouncing her. She looked disoriented for a second before starting to tug on his hair.

"Let's cut to the chase. I was wondering if you'd be interested in working for S.H.I.E.L.D." The man didn't look surprised with being cornered, which only made Pietro wearier. "You guys don't seem to have a lot to do these days, maybe except for Mr. Maximoff" He pointedly looked at Luna, who began to fuss under the man's gaze. Pietro started to whisper sweet nothings into her temple, trying to calm her down. "There's not many places that give opportunities to mutants as you may already know. You're all high school dropouts. And we pay a pretty good salary."

"And what if we say no?" Wanda shifted her weight to her left leg, ready to attack if it came to that.

"Then I'll retreat with my troops and we could all forget about this offer" Fury smiled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Give us some time" Lance stood up, walking over to the man. "We'll consider."

"Great" Fury extended his hand and Lance shook it, before looking at the card the man left in his palm. "Contact me when you've made your decision."

* * *

Pietro went back to panicking right after Fury had closed the front door. Luna was sensing his distress but somehow she didn't start crying, only poked at his face every now and then before tugging at her ear. He tried to focus on playing with her and watching her eat and then making sure she wouldn't drown while taking a bath. He laid her down in her crib and told her a story in Romani, brushing back her hair and wishing that maybe if he spoke it to her enough she'd learn it. The language was maybe the only thing he had left of his mother, this ghost-like figure he mostly created in his own mind. It's not like his own father ever thought much of family values and heritage.

Maybe he should tell his father about Luna?

Pietro shook his head, resuming his tale of princesses and dragons and tried very hard to forget about the man.

Yeah, sure, they were a bit better than before. The whole Apocalypse ordeal made Magneto actually apologize for some things. But Pietro wasn't sure whether he wanted to introduce that kind of people into his daughter's life. It was bad enough that Pietro was the one taking care of her.

After Luna started to lightly snore he turned on the baby monitor and went back to his room, stripped and went to sleep.

Two hours later he was woken up by incredibly loud wails coming from the device next to his bed. He tugged on his sweats and ran into Luna's room, picking her up and trying to calm her down. He did everything he could think of. Changed her diaper, tried to feed her, rubbed her belly, hugged her close to his body and tried to get her back to sleep. By the end of it all, the whole Boarding House was awake and giving their own suggestions as to what could possibly be wrong, excluding Wanda who magically soundproofed her door.

Sometimes he really hated his sister.

After over an hour of constant wailing Pietro was close to crying himself. He weighed his options and stared pointedly at the phone.

Maybe he should call his father?

Pietro immediately chased the thought away, seeing how it could go from bad to worse if Magneto got involved. He tried to think of anyone else who could possibly know what to do before he gave up and dialed the number, Luna still crying into his shoulder.

"' _Ello_?"

"Can you wake up Violette?" Pietro started to bounce Luna up and down, but it didn't help at all. "And send her over to the Boarding House? Please, it's urgent."

It had to be one of the younger mutants since no questions were asked before he heard a firm confirmation. Pietro put down the phone and once again went over every trick he got from his book, hoping that she'd come.

Twenty minutes later Violette burst in through the door, her eyes bloodshot and panic evident on her face.

" _Whas goin n_?" She mumbled, looking around the hall.

Pietro was next to her after a second, giving her a pleading look.

" _V_ , please help" His voice croaked and Luna still hasn't stopped crying. "I don't know what to do."

The child in his arms seemed to sober her up immediately. She looked back and forth from Luna to Pietro before reaching her arms over to hold her. Pietro handed his daughter to her, but the lack of close contact with her only seemed to worsen his state.

"Pietro, I haven't taken care of a child this young since I was five" Violette looked over the baby before her eyes focused on something. "She's tugging on her ear."

"Well, yeah" He didn't think much of it, she's been doing that the whole day.

"It might be an ear infection or something" Violette yawned. "You need to take her to a doctor."

Three seconds later they were in front of a hospital, all three of them still in pajamas.

"What is wrong with you?" Violette sighed, pulling Luna closer to her and walking in.

Something dawned on Pietro.

"I don't have the money for it."

"What?"

Pietro looked at the phone bolted to the outer wall of the hospital, the numbers burning through his mind.

Maybe he should call his father?

He ignored the thought, focusing on the other set of numbers, full of promise and future perspectives.

"V" Pietro turned to her and _fuck_ she was as confused as ever, probably still half asleep but he needed _advice_. "Should I take the offer or not?"

"What offer?" She blinked. "Dude, I can totally rob the Prof of enough money for a fucking doctor appointment, he won't mind. What are you even talking about?"

"Future" Maybe he was still half asleep himself, cause somehow he didn't care how it affected anyone except for Luna. "Should I take a risk if it will be better for her or just play it safe?"

He needed advice because he was pretty inconsistent when it came to decisions like that. He tended to jump into things without much consideration but also almost never take any risks at all, too afraid for things to change or to actually confront people. But Violette? For him, she somehow always ended up on top, even though she did the riskiest things she could.

Or maybe she always chose the safe route? Who knows, the fact was, somehow Violette seemed like someone who knew what she was doing, even when she didn't. And Pietro really needed her opinion.

"Pietro" She stepped up to him, Luna still crying in her arms. "You know what you should do."

And that was the only thing he needed to call up Nick Fury.

* * *

The guys were pissed when they found out. They didn't hit him, although they were very close. Because he made a decision that affected them all on a whim in the middle of the night with fucking _Violette_ as his only consultant.

"You know what? _Fuck. You_ " Pietro snapped in the middle of Lance's talk. "Luna was sick. She needed a doctor. And we had no money what so ever to cover that. I know we are a team. I know that we are a family. But she's the _most_ important person in my life" He stood up and fisted Lance's shirt, pulling him forward. "You want to hit me? _Fine_. But don't think that even for a second I'll regret that."

Because he couldn't. Not even five minutes passed before S.H.I.E.L.D. picked them up from the hospital, took care of Luna's ear infection, gave him the right medication for it and dropped Violette off at the Mansion. He read through the contract, signed it and was given a cell phone, his schedule, a new costume and a quick debriefing. He was back home within an hour, Luna sleeping in his arms, safe and on her way to being perfectly healthy and how could he possibly regret that? Being able to provide anything his daughter might ever need?

Lance took a hold of his hands and pried them off his shirt, huffing. They stared at each other for a second, not saying a word, before Lance sighed and turned to the guys.

"We should contact Fury then."

Pietro let a small smile make its way onto his face. And when Luna woke up after the eventful night he called Violette to thank her.

"No problem" She said and he could hear her smile. His heart clenched, knowing that if things had gone differently, he wouldn't even need to call her since she'd be right there with him since the start. That she'd be a part of their family. That even though they all wanted it, they could never go back to how things were before she joined the X-Men.

After she hung up Pietro stared down at his new phone for a while, mulling over the pros and cons of what he was about to do.

He dialed the number, half of him praying that he wouldn't pick up.

" _Hello?_ "

Pietro swallowed the bile that rose in his throat.

"Father?" He cleared his throat, looking down at Luna playing with her dolls near his feet. "I'd like you to meet someone."


	3. Don't Be Sorry, That Makes Me More Pitiful

Violette somehow stopped spending as much time with him as she used to. She was focused on Kurt and Jamie was focused on… Nothing in particular. She was just busy with her relationship and he sat on the couch and read comics between homework and dinner.

He got it. She was almost an adult now and he… Well, he liked being the kid of the Institute. People let him off easy and Miss Munroe always packed him an extra cookie for lunch, even though recently he outgrew Kitty and Rahne. Mister McCoy always ruffled his hair when he passed him in the hallway and even Mister Logan almost smiled at him at least twice a month. He played video games with the guys, got pampered by the girls and life was beautiful.

Except for the fact that his sister seemed to be moving on from her ' _let's-coddle-Jamie'_ phase into _'Jamie's-grown-let's-bang-Kurt'_ phase, and while he could understand everything, the thought of his sister even thinking about doing anything simultaneously scared and grossed him out.

And so, Jamie thought of the perfect plan to not only bond with his sister, but also maybe… _Postpone_ some of her plans.

There were very few things he and Violette had in common, to be honest. She was rubbish at video games, he didn't understand the appeal of reading _books_. She liked to relax and listen to music, while he preferred doing something, _anything_ , even if it meant bruises and consequences.

He never understood how she and Kurt got each other so well. Kurt was pretty similar to Jamie in that they both didn't like to stay still for too long. Or maybe Jamie knew nothing about Kurt or Violette at all and in actuality, they were both sappy romantic bores.

Who knew by now? Certainly not Jamie.

But the most prominent thing that came to his mind was their mother. There was nothing more undeniably theirs and theirs alone. There was not another soul on Earth that loved that woman as fiercely as they did. He knew Violette hated to even think about her, but there was something that he could mention without sending his sister into a spiral of self-loathing.

And that was their roots.

Violette tried to teach him French, but she didn't have the patience. They baked Buche de Nol last Christmas, but that was about it when it came to French cuisine. He knew close to nothing about anything else, since his father forbid anything French after Violette ran off. He felt a pang of guilt when he thought about what it would mean to his mother if he knew those things.

He thought of the perfect conversation starter, and that was him _actually speaking French to her_. So, he did the only thing he could – asked Mister Logan for help.

"No way, kiddo" The man sighed, turning another page in his newspaper. "My French is rusty at best. And it's _Canadian._ Not the kind you want to learn."

Jamie doubted there was that much difference between the two, but he wasn't crazy to argue with the _Wolverine_ , so he did the next best thing.

" _Non_."

" _Please_ " He put his hands together and shook them in front of Gambit's face. "I _know_ you have the time. _And_ you speak not the kind of French I need but the next best thing."

"Why?"

"Because I need to speak French and connect with my roots" Jamie sighed. "Otherwise my sister won't love me anymore."

"From what I've gathered, your mother was a Cajun like me, while the kid's father was French, _mon ami_ " He patted Jamie's head. "You're not French."

"How do you know?"

"I found out" Gambit shrugged. "It's crucial to know these kinds of things. It was my job to break in and get things – and sometimes information – for other people."

"Even better" Jamie did his best puppy-eyed stare, knowing that if it failed, he had nothing else. "Please, I'll be the best student you could imagine, I promise!"

Gambit looked him over for a second, sighed, then shook his head.

"Alright."

* * *

Jubilee felt a bit bad about the decisions she made in her life that led her to this point.

Here he was, kneeling on the floor, a bouquet of roses in his hands, smiling beautifully up at her.

"Come on, Jubes" He pushed the flowers into her hands, looking so hopeful. "One date."

She tried to imagine what it would be like. She's heard about love from the girls, about the butterflies and fireworks and that simmering heat they felt when they were near their boyfriends, but she's never felt that. She's never felt the _need_ to feel that. There was never a person who made her feel like that and she doubted there would ever be.

And she couldn't lie to her best friend.

"I'm so sorry, Bobby" She gave him back the flowers, not really knowing if hugging him was okay. "But I don't think it's a good idea."

The way his smile gave way to a look of despair almost made her deny what she just said and accept.

_Almost._

"You did the right thing."

Jubilee looked up from the flowers he left on the floor and narrowed her eyes.

"Don't read my mind, Jean" She sighed, brushing her hands over her face.

"I thought you-" The woman shook her head, walking out of the room. "Never mind."

* * *

Rogue hated that he butted into everything she had established during her time at the Institute. Somehow he managed to ruin all of her meals, workouts at the gym and quiet, secluded moments at the library.

But now, here he was, sitting at the table with Ray, Roberto, Bobby and Sam, shuffling cards.

"No."

"Oh come on, Rogue" Roberto sighed, gesturing towards the tricks Gambit was doing with the deck. "He's an actual threat to you! Don't you like a challenge?"

' _I've already played with him'_ Rogue bit her tongue before the words slipped out.

She sat in between Ray and Sam, knowing that Bobby always tried to be sneaky with freezing the table in just two spots so that he could see the reflections of the cards of people next to him. Gambit was either blind to it or had something up his sleeve since he scooted over towards the boy.

Since real gambling was prohibited, they had to buy Monopoly and just keep the fake money, swearing not to ever tell anyone that they'll be exchanging it for real cash later.

"Who starts the bidding?"

"He does" She nodded towards Remy, who just finished passing out cards. "Since he decided to butt in."

"It's good to know that you love me so much, _cherie_ " He winked, scanning his cards before exchanging them.

Bobby's lower lip started to quiver.

"Is everything okay with him?" Gambit raised his brow, brushing his hair back. "It's just cards, _mon ami_. I get that you love 'em, but…"

"She doesn't love me!" Bobby collapsed face first onto the table, staining the cards with tears. " _She doesn't love me!"_

Sam and Roberto looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Bobby, come on, it's going to be alright" Ray reached over the table and tapped Bobby's head.

"It _won't be!_ "

"Shit, he's such a drama queen" Rogue murmured into her cards, shaking her head.

"Who are we even talking about?" Gambit looked to Sam for help.

"Jubilee, for sure" Sam rubbed Bobby's shoulder. "Dude, maybe you're just not meant to be."

"How _dare_ you?!" Bobby's head shot up, tears running down his cheeks. "We're perfect for each _other_! We're _best friends_! We have the same _birthday_! She likes my _jokes_!"

Roberto mouthed _'good job'_ and took over from him, shushing Bobby.

"Don't shush me, you hot Latino prick!" Bobby slapped his hand away. "You're probably, like, eighty percent of the reasons why I'm like this! How can I compete with a Portuguese male who's literally _on fire_!"

Rogue rolled her eyes at Roberto's nervous chuckle.

"Bobby, it's not the end of the world" She sighed, checking her cards before exchanging one. "A girl can actually not be into you, you know?"

Bobby started to sniff.

"What if… What if she has someone and _never_ told me?" Bobby's eyes got wide and his mouth formed into an 'o' shape. "Of _course_!"

"He's so dumb" Rogue looked over at Gambit. "Okay, bid."

* * *

Remy fished his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, cursing when he took out the last one. It was just after nine and there was no way he'd be able to get a pack and return before the security system switched to the night mode. He could always sneak in, but that would mean leaving his baby outside the gates for the night. Or walking all the way to the nearest gas station. And he wasn't up for either.

He rested his head against the pillar, staring at the calm water before him. It was cold, incredibly so, but it was nearing Christmas, so what did Remy expect? He wrapped his coat tightly around himself and took a drag, welcoming the taste of nicotine on his tongue.

He almost laughed at the kid's misery when she told him sternly that smoking was prohibited inside the Institute and directed him outside on the snow. She was still a child so they forced her to quit and that seemed like such a funny concept to Remy, quitting because you're _too young_. You're not too young to fight with super-powered villains or sacrifice your life for the greater good of humanity, but you're too young to fucking _smoke_.

He started to play with his ring. It always weighted him down, as if he was carrying an additional ton on his right hand, instead of a small silver band.

' _Too young to buy cigarettes, but not too young to get married.'_

"I knew you'd steal every ounce of privacy I could possibly have."

He looked up at Rogue, taking the cig out of his mouth and blowing out the smoke.

She looked angry, as per usual when he was within ten feet radius. Her purple hat was covered with a thin layer of snow. He didn't even notice when it started to fall down again.

"I can get back inside if you'd prefer that."

She seemed surprised to hear this. Remy wasn't the best at keeping his distance from people and he was always the one seeking her out all the time.

"No" Sighed Rogue, sitting next to him. "You can stay."

They stayed in silence, him looking at the sea and her looking at him. Her stare made the cold weight of his ring feel as if it was tightening around his finger.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He looked up at her, her eyes warm and open. He hasn't seen that look since they parted in New Orleans.

"No" He shook his head. "But you want to."

She averted her gaze and he could feel his heart skip a bit. He finally had her, she was once again opening up, he couldn't possibly screw this up, _but_ -

' _She wants to know, she_ deserves _to know.'_

"I didn't quit the Thieves Guild" Remy dropped his cigarette onto the snow, waiting for the hunger to come back and nag him. He deserved it tiring him to no end for the rest of his life. "They kicked me out. If not for the fact that I was the boss' son, they'd get rid of me."

"What did you do?"

"I married their enemy's daughter."

"You're married?"

"Well-"

He felt slightly impressed that he had no idea she was going to slap him up until he felt her hand on his cheek.

"You're _married_?" Rogue stood up and started to slowly back away. "B-but we… You're…"

"I _was_ " He sighed, rubbing his cheek. She could pack a punch. "For a very short period of time. Close to two months."

"And then you _left her_?" She chuckled, but it was devoid of any humor. "Of course. Of _fucking_ course."

"I didn't" Remy sighed, patting the space next to him. "If you could maybe calm down and sit next to me, _cherie_ , then you'd be able to find out what actually happened, instead of this jumping to conclusions you so love."

She didn't look half as convinced as Remy hoped.

"Come on, it's time for my sappy backstory, this time the full version, even more tragic than before. I guarantee you'll shed about twenty more tears, _cherie_."

She sat back down but shuffled as far from him as possible, her back against a pillar. Remy chose to pretend that it didn't affect him.

"Her name was Belladonna and she was two years older than me. We knew each other since we were kids and when we grew into teenagers, we fell in love" It sounded so childish in the grand scheme of things. Two kids in their twisted rendition of Romeo and Juliet. "She was a part of the rival gang, the Assassins. And as you can probably guess, no one was too happy when we got together, but at first, my father just wrote it off as something he could maybe gain an advantage from in the future. But Bella and I, we were… Pretty serious about each other" They were children, how could they be serious about each other? "When I was old enough, we had a quiet wedding. Only my brother Etienne and Bella's friend, since we needed witnesses. But the news got around either way" He kicked his legs back and forth, suddenly feeling small and much younger than he was. He must seem like a stupid kid to her, getting married on a whim just because he thought of forever every time he looked at her. "I got kicked out from the Guild. We both though the Assassins still knew nothing, until…" Remy brushed a hand over his face, the picture he was about to describe flashing before his eyes. "I was living with Etienne, but I used to sneak into her flat every night. I climbed in and… The Assassins were never ones to be sentimental. Once you broke their rules, you were dead, no matter if you're the boss's daughter or not."

He wanted the splash of waves to drown out the thoughts running through his mind, but it was hard to pretend that he didn't hear his mind screaming at him.

' _It's all your fault!'_

"I'm… Sorry."

Remy stood up, wondering why he even told her about Bella.

"I'll go back" He turned around and started to walk towards the mansion, making sure not to look at Rogue at all.

* * *

"Bobby?"

He looked up from his tub of ice cream, the blanket he wrapped around himself falling down from his head.

"Jubes?"

She smiled sadly and slowly walked over to the couch to sit next to him. He muted ' _You've Got Mail_ ', staring at her with wide eyes.

"Oh, _Bobby_."

"You've got somebody, _right_?" His voice cracked and it was awful, horrible, he felt ready to fling himself out of the window. Because they were perfect for each other. They loved the same things and thought the same thoughts and wasn't that what love was all about?

Jubes shook her head, wrapping the blanket tighter around his shoulders.

"Then _why_?" He felt his eyes turn moist and he felt even more pathetic than before.

"Because I _can't_ " She pushed his hair back and he chased her hand with his head. "I don't… _Feel_ like that. About anyone. Ever" Jubes' eyes hardened. "I can't… Lie to you like that Bobby. I'm just… I don't _want_ anything like that. And I don't think I ever will."

He swallowed, slowly nodding.

"Thanks" Bobby looked down at the strawberry ice cream in his hands. "For being honest with me" He bit the inside of his cheek, before brushing away his tears and smiling at her. "Wanna share?"


	4. A Girl By Any Other Name Would Be as Fierce

Suddenly Logan disappeared. No one had any idea where he was or even why he was away, but in the end they all just shrugged, saying how it was just his usual thing. Violette took advantage of that and the fact that their caretaker for the week was Scott while the rest of the adults were in Washington DC doing some mutant related PR and slept in Kurt's room, fully clothed, feeling safe and calm in his embrace. The fun time as always had to be cut short, because Logan came back just four days later, with a teenage girl at his side.

The same teenage girl that helped Violette get a hang of her powers by electrocuting the living shit out of her.

Violette might have been wary of the girl at first, but she just seemed lost and uncertain herself, like a wounded animal trapped in a cage, which kind of made sense to Violette. The Institute might be a golden, diamond-studded cage, but a cage none the less.

Logan looked around the hall and seeing that Violette was the only one out, growled at her not to lose the girl before walking off in the direction of the Professor's office. Violette looked at her and noticed that she had grown a bit since their last meeting, but then again, she was Jamie's age, and Jamie has managed to grow five inches in the last year alone.

Violette wasn't really sure what she was exactly supposed to do, and calling for Kurt might not be the best idea. The girl looked as if she'd spent the last few months in the woods, her hair messy and full of dry leaves while her face was covered in dirt.

"Maybe you want to take a shower?" Violette cleared her throat, looking down at the girl's boots. The tips were torn apart and Violette was reminded of the fact that the girl could kill her with only her toes. "I could lend you some clothes."

Clothes that wouldn't fit her at all and were probably going to be too loose on the hips and bust but too tight on the sleeves and shoulders.

The girl nodded and Violette guided her upstairs. She opened the doors to her room, took the first pair of jeans she could find and a clean shirt and showed the girl the way to the bathroom. She still didn't say anything, only nodded in gratitude.

Violette was waiting outside the bathroom when Wolverine came back, handing her an armful of sheets and blankets.

"What's that?"

"She's rooming with you, Caspar."

"Wait, what?" Violette didn't have to share a room with anyone since she ran away from home. "I don't even know her name!"

"Well, neither does she" He growled, furrowing his brows. "You're going to take care of her, alright, bub?"

She swallowed audibly, nodding. For what it was worth, she was still scared of him.

"I'll get the boys to move another bed to your room" He walked off, leaving Violette to awkwardly shift the sheets in her arms.

Just a few minutes later the girl walked out of the bathroom, wordlessly taking some of the things in Violette's hands.

"I guess you heard that, huh" Violette chuckled as the girl followed her to her – now _their_ – room. "I have to warn you, the room's a bit messy."

Violette opened the door and immediately cursed when she heard the familiar sound of Kurt's teleportation. The girl next to her dropped the sheets and the claws hidden underneath her skin shot out, making Kurt yelp and fall from Violette's desk down onto the floor.

"Don't worry" Violette slowly put down the sheets and made her way to the girl, feeling her courage leave her with every step. "That's just my boyfriend. A very handsome but idiotic boyfriend, to be exact. I'm shallow like that."

"Maybe I'll…" Kurt started to gesticulate at the door wildly. "You know."

"Nonsense!" She understood that the girl was maybe not used to other people, but she wasn't going to kick Kurt out just because she might not like him being there. Violette never insisted that she wasn't a bit bitchy. "It's okay, right?"

The girl nodded and retracted her claws. The silence started to slowly get on Violette's nerves.

' _Patience or Wolvie will kill you.'_

"So…" Kurt scratched the back of his neck, chuckling nervously. "I'm Kurt. What's your name?"

Violette felt like she could free Logan of the burden of killing a teenage girl, by just jumping out of the window.

The girl looked down at her feet with a crestfallen expression.

"I don't really… Have one."

No, maybe she'll just kill Kurt.

"Oh."

' _Yeah, definitely kill Kurt.'_

"Well, you know, that can be easily resolved" She delicately put her hand on the girl's shoulder, smiling reassuringly. She channeled everything she had into the nicest tone she could muster. "You can just come up with one."

She nodded but didn't seem convinced. Violette felt like she should have expected her almost unwavering silence. She recognized it in a way.

' _I've read that one book'_ She looked at the bookshelf next to her desk, scanning it for the title. _'About a silent girl.'_

It was overall a sad story, but she felt like it helped her. She had it since her Brotherhood years, back when she still struggled with her own demons. Violette walked over to the bookshelf and took the book out scanning it for the girl's name.

' _There it is.'_

She put down _No Language But a Cry_ with a small smile, turning to the two.

"How about Laura?"

* * *

Just when Violette thought that that would be the last female joining them at the Institute for a while, Storm and the Professor came back with a green haired sophomore.

"Hi, I'm Lorna" She gave them all a friendly smile and a small wave and damn, did the introductions at the mansion always go like this? Violette remembered that in the Brotherhood they always kicked it off with a weird meeting.

"Went to the pool after bleaching?" Kitty gave her a sympathetic smile, offering her hand. "I'm Kitty."

"Oh, no, it just always was that way" Lorna reached out for a lock of her hair and somehow shrunk.

"Shit" Rahne mumbled under her breath and materialized next to the new girl. "Hey I'm Rahne, do you want to be my roommate?"

"Well, yes I guess…"

"That's awesome" Rahne motioned for Sam to come over before turning back to Lorna. "So, except for the fact that you have this incredible hair colour, could you tell us a bit about yourself?"

And they were back on the wrong track.

* * *

While apart from the first awkward encounter Lorna seemed to do great, Laura spent the first week of her new life in the mansion slowly trying to get familiar with living with other people. There were accidents which ended with her claws out, most of them thanks to either Bobby suddenly crashing onto furniture in a fit of tears or Pyro jumping from around the corner surrounded by tiny fireballs.

While the Professor wanted Violette to help Laura slowly get the hang of things, Laura herself was frustrated over how little she knew about stuff.

"I want to go to school" She said softly one morning, watching Violette pack her backpack. She turned around to face Laura, her eyes wide. "What?"

"No one ever wants to go to school" Violette rolled her eyes. "Especially not high school. It's boring, people are awful and you're not even allowed to go to the bathroom whenever you want."

That answer didn't seem to satisfy Laura, though. She started to pester Logan about letting her out.

Violette thought that it would be the worst idea ever since Laura almost sliced her up when Violette accidentally rolled off the bed in her sleep. The Prof seemed to think that it was great that Laura wanted to adjust on her own accord and deemed Jamie her caretaker since they were the same age.

Violette wasn't keen on leaving her brother alone for extended amounts of time with a psychotic teenage girl made out of the hardest metal on Earth, but no one asked about her opinion on the matter.

So, she took to quietly brooding while stuffing her things into her backpack.

"You're overreacting" Tabby chuckled, tossing Violette's notebook at her head. "She won't freak out in the middle of the hallway."

"Yeah, but she might freak out when it's just the two of them" Violette picked the notebook up from the ground and put it down on her desk. "I don't want Jamie to have stab wounds in his stomach, you know?"

"You let him near the Brotherhood. He survived Apocalypse" Tabitha walked over to her and put her hand on Violette's shoulder. "He's going to be fine."

Violette sighed, putting her face in her hands.

"I hope so."

* * *

Jamie usually kept his distance when it came to girls his age. He mostly hung out with the girls from the Institute and had to live with the questions his classmates had when it came to them – and _God_ , that one time a guy asked him if he was going out with _Violette_ would never leave his mind, _ever_.

It wasn't just that he stayed glued to their sides, they liked to come over and talk for a while. They were all mutants, they had to stick together.

But this-this was something _else_. He had a long conversation with the Professor in the morning and the only thing he got out of it was ' _stick to her'_ and _'make sure she's alright'_. And hell, if that didn't boost his ego. He, a scrawny, barely over five feet Jamie, had to take care of a _master assassin_.

A pretty, female master assassin, but Jamie seemed to be the only one to take it into account.

So he smiled at her as charmingly as he could, opened the doors for her and made sure to be within a three feet radius of her. Which seemed to annoy her a bit and make his friends fall out of their desks in laughter.

When they came back home, Laura threw her backpack at Logan and ran to her room, growling at everyone.

"What happened, bub?" Logan turned to Jamie, raising his brow.

"I don't know, I made sure everything was going great" He shrugged, taking the backpack from Logan. "I'll take it back to her room."

He passed Mr. McCoy on his way up and gave him a thumbs up.

"We shouldn't have let him get close to her" Logan crossed his arms over his chest, furrowing his brows.

"It's usual for fathers to not want any boys around their daughters" Hank put his hand on his shoulder, smiling. "Don't worry, Jamie means well."

"Oh, I know that" Logan chuckled, shaking his head. "If he keeps it up, Laura's going to tear him apart."

* * *

"And, what do you think you're doing?"

Alex jumped away from his hideout – _a bush? Really?_ – and started to laugh nervously.

"Uhm, nothing?"

Ray rolled his eyes, smiling. It wasn't coincidental that he started to spot Alex whenever the New Mutants were having their training sessions since Lorna's arrival.

"You're not subtle at all, dude" He pulled Alex up, clapping him on the back. "You should just go talk to her."

"You really think so?"

"What's the worst that can happen?"

 _That._ That was the worst that could happen.

Alex took Ray's advice to the heart. The next day, he sat down next to Lorna at the breakfast table.

"Hi."

"Oh, hi" She gave him a small wave and reached over for a jug of orange juice.

Alex decided that the best first impression would be to take care of her most basic needs, so his hand shot out for that same jug, flipping it over and spilling it all over the table and Lorna's dress.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" He wanted to scoot away from the table to go get paper towels but instead fell out of his chair.

He desperately reached for the edge of the table, but his hand closed around the tablecloth instead and tugged it off. The silverware and plates fell down on him, the small pile of food and china hiding him from the eyes of his crush. He could hear everyone's laughter and Scott's questions about his well being and it was officially the worst first impression he could have left on Lorna. There was really no reason for her to immediately know that he was a walking human disaster.

"At least you tried, buddy" He heard Ray whisper to him as he tried to get out of the tangled tablecloth. "At least you tried."

* * *

Hank was checking over the power signatures picked up by Cerebro in the last couple of weeks and frowned, noticing a rather large gathering of mutants all in one place. He printed the maps and stood up, ready to go and tell Charles to focus on it during a session, but the thought altogether left his head, the only thing he could focus on being going to the kitchen to have a snack.

He walked by the printer, the papers laying there, long forgotten.


	5. I Have So Many Damn Things to Do but I Have Nothing That I Want to Do

Violette didn't really like being called over to the Professor's office. It always made her feel as if she was at Bayville High, getting ready for another lecture. She knocked on the doors and opened them, surprised to see not only the Prof but also Alex in there, both of them giving her inviting smiles.

' _Weird.'_

She sat down in the vacant chair, waiting for them to start.

"So, Violette, I've been thinking about forming a new team, since so many of new, more experienced mutants joined our ranks" The Professor folded his hands into a triangle, something that always made her feel even more uncomfortable. "The team in question would be led by Alex with a little help from you, since you have more field experience than the rest of the New Mutants."

"Wait" She was too slow to stop herself from saying something about the very real issue she saw there. "No offense, but Alex couldn't be greener if his name was Kermit the frog."

"Hey, dude!"

"So, why exactly is he the leader? And why am I even considered for a second in command? They are all more experienced than the both of us combined" She folded her hands over her chest. "Why aren't you promoting Ray? He's got his head on straight and he's already second in command in the Newbies, he knows how things work."

The Professor sighed, leaning back in his chair. His eyes turned more serious and his hands dropped back onto his lap.

"Yes, most of the newcomers are already after basic training, but there is one problem that keeps me from promoting any of them to the status of a leader anytime soon."

"Which is?" Alex slumped down into his chair, adjusting his hair. Violette couldn't help but notice that his tan was slowly coming off.

"Almost none of the students fully trust any of them, and the key to being a leader of a smaller team during a mass operation is-"

"Other leaders trusting your decisions" Violette shook her head. "Okay, that explains that. Still, why us?"

"Well, since Alex came to the institute at around the same time it might help them form bonds" He turned to Violette, his eyes piercing her soul. "You Violette, on the other hand, seem to have already bonded with… Some of them."

"I accidentally know them" She narrowed her brows, frowning. "You mean I'm just as trusted as they are?"

"Some students still have second thoughts about you joining the X-Men out of the blue."

"It wasn't out of the blue and we both know it" She stood up, ignoring the intensive way Alex was staring at her. "Fine, I accept. But Shark-bait over there has to be the one to tell the trained assassin that he's in charge."

* * *

"So, how do you feel?"

"I didn't want a promotion, Kurt" Violette brushed his hair back, sighing. "I want time to not do anything and not to be tied down to a job at the Institute."

"Oh" Kurt shifted, his tail tightening its grip on her calf.

She knew him well enough to know that it wasn't about her promotion anymore.

"What is it?" She sat up, kicking the blanket off her legs and turning her whole body so that she was facing him completely.

"Nothing."

"It's not nothing if it's bothering you."

Kurt started to slowly twist his body so that none of them fell off his bed while he mirrored her pose.

"Why don't you want to be tied down to the Institute?"

The question took her aback, quite literally since she almost fell off the bed thanks to it.

"Are you okay?" Kurt pulled her upright, rubbing her arm afterwards.

"Yeah, yeah, sure, I'm fine" She giggled, feeling a knot starting to form in her stomach.

"You don't look fine" He raised his brow, putting his other hand on her knee. "Come on, tell me."

"I just…" She sighed, rubbing her hands over her eyes. "Remember back when the mansion blew up?"

"Of course."

It wasn't the best time for their relationship. He couldn't trust her and she couldn't trust herself. The biggest mess she got in during her whole life.

"I wanted to quit" She looked up, clasping her hands in her lap. " Immediately. I thought that since Jamie was gone I had no reason to stay in the mutant world" Violette ran her fingers through his hair. "What if he wants to go somewhere else? What if he finds out that this whole superhero thing isn't for him? I need to be ready to leave as soon as he decides so, not have to wait for you to find a replacement."

"So" His fists clenched around the sheets and his tail wrapped around his waist. "There's nothing holding you back right now?"

"Kurt-"

"Exactly. Not to sound rude, but what about me?" His shoulders sagged a bit, making him appear smaller.

"You know I love you."

"But?"

"There's no buts. Yes, if Jamie wanted to leave, I'd leave with him, but while I'd drop the Institute, I wouldn't drop you."

* * *

"So, yeah."

St. John smirked, watching the blonde surfer squirm uncomfortably. John forgot his name once again – he should pay more attention, the guy is their _leader_ after all – but at least he knew Violette a tiny bit.

Piotr took being bossed around by a bunch of kids far better than Gambit did. The humongous Russian went over and exchanged a few words with them, giving both Violette and the surfer his kindest smile. Gambit started to throw a tantrum, saying how he worked best on his own and how it was ridiculous that _le enfant_ would be giving him orders. The crazy girl who almost pierced him with her claws thrice now just huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

John just shrugged, went over to the teens, patted Violette on the back so hard she almost fell over and set the surfer's shoes on fire.

He was more aggressive than passive, unlike the crazy slicer over there. And he didn't really have the time for fits of anger. He asked Amara to come to his room and read the email he got from a publisher. He didn't have the courage to open it when it arrived, since for the first time in forever, he felt like what he wrote was _very_ good. He decided to forget about the cheesy romance novels he only ever got to sell and focused on a sci-fi criminal he's been thinking about for years. Once he finished the first draft he wouldn't even let Amara take a look and instead slaved over it for weeks. And now, after finishing it and sending it out to an actual publishing company, he was panicking.

What if they thought it was garbage? How was he supposed to be a writer if he _couldn't_ write, for fuck's sake?

John opened the door to his room and immediately got the wind knocked out of him when Amara launched herself at his neck.

"You did it, John!" She was laughing, squeezing him mercilessly. "They liked it!"

His eyes widened as he rested his hands on her waist, what Amara meant finally getting to him.

He was going to have his book published. The one he was actually proud of. _Published_.

A wide smile spread across his face as he started to twirl her around, laughing along.

* * *

Violette sat on the floor of the gym, watching the New Mutants practice combat. Jamie was doing much better than when she first joined, but he's also grown quite a bit. She tended to forget about it, but now that Rahne was back, she could clearly see it.

Ray sat down next to her, panting. She passed him a water bottle, still having no idea why he wasn't in her place right now.

"Are you mad at me?"

He choked on the liquid and she started to slap his back.

"Now that's ridiculous" He started to laugh. "Why would I be?"

"I stole your job, basically."

Ray shrugged, watching as Bobby tripped Roberto and smirked.

"Not really" He turned to Violette, playing with his fingers. "I'm leaving in August."

"What?" Violette's hands fell down and she felt her head getting swarmed with a bunch of very different but equally terrifying ideas. "Why?"

"I'm going to college" He smiled. "Biochemistry major in UCLA. Minor in Society and Genetics."

"California?"

"It's warm and just far away enough for me not to be dragged into every minor mutant conflict" Ray put his hand on her shoulder. "You'll be great."

"You're leaving."

"Yes, and you have more friends than just me" Ray waved Sam over, tapping his shoulder and running over to train with Tabby. "Besides, you'll be good at the job!"

* * *

Laura took a deep breath and corrected her stance, before lunging at the punching bag, giving it her all. She already spent the last three hours at the gym, training mercilessly.

She wasn't sure why. She didn't _have to_ anymore. She had a training schedule, just like everyone else at the Institute, and it didn't consist of as many hours as her HYDRA schedule did. She always waited for the scheduled meals. She didn't _have to_ anymore. She could go to the kitchen and have a snack any time she wanted, but she didn't. She wasn't at the HYDRA training center anymore, but she still acted just like they wanted her to.

It was ridiculous. No one would punish her if she took a longer shower or drank an additional cup of water, but she still stuck to the five minutes she always got and the two liters a day she was always allowed.

The fact that she started school helped her a bit. It was a place with a clear set of rules, which collided with the HYDRA schedule. It gave her something she was comfortable with and helped her break out of her habits a bit. Still, the middle of the night training sessions were there to force her back into her previous mindset.

She'd go to sleep around eight, wake up at midnight, train for four hours, shower for five minutes and then go back to sleep at four, only to wake up around seven.

The Professor told her not to try to stop immediately. To maybe start cutting the time slowly, because it can not only mess up her mind but also her sleep schedule completely.

She planned on getting to the bathroom at three thirty. She had half an hour left.

She tended to switch off during fights to, as the Professor said, detach herself from the bloodshed. Now the only thing she could think about during training is that she would have killed anyone who stood in her way just a few months earlier.

When the clock on the wall showed three thirty, she rushed to the elevator. Her throat was parched. Maybe she should try taking a sip of water. Or a full glass.

_No._

A sip, then.

Laura slowly walked to the kitchen, feeling a dull ache in her wrist. She must have overworked it. She knew the pain will be gone completely by the time she went to bed, so she ignored it for the time being.

She turned the tap and put her hand under the thin trickle of water, before sipping the small amount.

"You know you can just take a glass out of the cabinet, _right_?"

Her instinct took over. She turned around, claws ready to strike when she felt something wet hit her back.

"Shit, sorry!"

Jamie ran past her, turning the knobs and she realized that while turning around she must have sliced the faucet off and now a steady stream of water was hitting her back.

Her claws retracted and she closed her eyes, steadying her breath.

She shouldn't have started ignoring her senses. Yes, living with a bunch of people who all smelled differently and whose hearts were beating in different rhythms made her headache from sensory overload, but it was better than one day accidentally hurting someone.

"Sorry" Laura opened her eyes, sighing.

_What was he doing up in the middle of the night? Of course, it had to be him. The door is fourteen feet away from you, the window is two feet away, but the attacker is right next to it. Stop._

"Why are you up?" He asked once he turned off the water.

"Training" Jamie's only redeeming quality was that once he got a simple answer, he didn't force you to elaborate. "You?"

"Couldn't sleep" One of his drawbacks was that while you didn't have to talk, he concluded that someone _had to_ and babbled on. "You know, Violette left the New Mutants to join you guys and it's weird, to know that I won't see her as much. Since I started High School we haven't really spent much time together. I started to learn French with Gambit to maybe have something to talk about but I'm a pretty slow learner" Not only was he talking, his voice cracked at random and his heartbeat was crazy and it was all a cacophony to her ears. "Do you think that maybe I should just give up?"

Laura didn't understand what she had to do with the issue. She looked at the clock – _three forty-five, so much for going to bed before four_ – and then finally faced Jamie.

"I don't know" She wasn't sure what he expected from her. "Why are you asking me?"

"I feel like we're kind of friends by now, you know" He chuckled, scratching the back of his head and Laura felt something twist inside her stomach. _Friends._ "And you're kind of rooming with her, so I guess you kind of also know her a bit but not too much? Cause I need an opinion but not from someone who has no idea what is going on."

Laura _had_ no idea what was going on, but for some reason, Jamie thought that once she stepped into Violette's room she became a psychic.

"I guess you shouldn't give up" She shrugged. "The worst thing that happens, you learn a new language."

"Thanks, Laura" He walked over to a cupboard and took out a bar of chocolate. "Want S'mores?"

"What?"

"I'll show you."

And once Laura was holding a fork with a huge marshmallow at the end over the kitchen burner, while Jamie already put his between biscuits and chocolate – he huffed when he discovered that they ran out of Graham crackers – she thought that maybe he had more redeeming qualities.

Like the fact that instead of making her feel bad about not knowing things, he showed them to her.

* * *

"I don't want to be bossed around by kids" Remy threw down his cards, swearing as Rogue's turned out to be better.

"Language" Sam handed her the Monopoly currency, waving his finger at him.

"It could have been worse" Ray shuffled the cards, smirking. "Bobby could have been your leader."

"Oh, funny aren't we, _Crisp_?" Bobby narrowed his eyes. "You better watch out, wire-brain."

"See" Roberto nudged Bobby with his shoulder. "Alex at least can take a joke."

"Yeah, and he's four years younger than me" Remy grabbed his cards, sensing a theme in today's game. He exchanged four of them, leaving behind only Judith. He hoped she'd bring him luck.

"Touché" Rogue exchanged two cards, before raising the bid.

Remy passed, folding his cards and watched as once again, she took the prize.

It was his turn to shuffle. Remy lets his fingers linger on Judith and blew on the cards before dividing the deck into two.

"You should give them a chance" Rogue's foot knocked into his under the table. Remy looked at his cards and cheered mentally, seeing four Dames in his hands. He exchanged the lone two and got back an Ace of clubs. "They might surprise you."

Bobby, Sam and Ray passed. When they revealed their hands, Remy's four of a kind beat Rogue's flush and Roberto's straight. Remy's foot nudged Rogue's and she smiled, giving him a stack of Monopoly cash.


	6. Valentine's Day

February smacked Kurt in the face with paper hearts and white teddy bears. Along with it came their first anniversary and he felt as if he was about to have a heart attack.

Kitty made fun of him mercilessly, wrapping up a gift for Lance – a bunch of guitar picks and a maxi bottle of aspirin and somehow her gift was supposed to be _good_ – instead of giving him advice, like he asked her to.

"You're the worst best friend I have ever seen" Kurt pouted, throwing scotch tape at her. Kitty effortlessly phased through it. "I hate you."

"It's not my fault you have no idea what to do" She chuckled, setting the gift aside. "Like, have you ever thought about whether she wants something big or not?"

"She's a girl, girls love grand gestures" Kurt rolled his eyes, but in the back of his mind knew that Violette wouldn't like him to make a huge deal out of it. "Okay, maybe Violette doesn't."

"Exactly" Kitty smiled, walking over to him and patting his head. "You think my gift for Lance is dumb, but actually it's exactly what he needs. Tell me, what would _you_ give a nineteen-year-old guitarist with chronic headaches trying very hard to convince everyone that he's a tough bad boy?"

She collected the gift and walked out of his room, leaving behind a mess of wrapping paper, ribbons, and tape.

"You're the worst!" Kurt yelled over his shoulder, standing up to clean it up.

"You've already said that!" Kitty yelled back.

He smiled, shaking his head.

* * *

Bobby put down his controller, whooping when a 'You Are The Party Star' appeared over Princess Daisy's head.

"I hate Mario Party 4" Sam tossed his controller aside, frowning.

"You're just pissed that even the AI beat you at a GameCube game" Bobby chuckled. "Told you Daisy's better than Mario."

"It doesn't even count" Sam huffed, walking over to the console and putting in _Super Smash Bros Melee_. "Dibs on Luigi."

"Fuck you" Bobby sighed, deciding to settle on Donkey Kong. "So, Sammy boy, you up for a guys' night on the fourteenth?"

"Uhm, not really, dude" Sam scratched the back of his neck and smiled nervously. "Rahne and I are going out to this new Mexican place near the school."

"Oh" Bobby nodded, sighing. "Good for you, I guess."

"Oh, don't be like that, Bobby" Sam nudged him with his elbow. "You can just go out with one of the girls from our year."

"I don't know" He shrugged, focusing on the screen. "I mean, I've never really noticed a girl my type before."

"Except for Jubes."

"I guess" Bobby readied himself, twisting his head every each way during the countdown. "Maybe Roberto will be up for some bro time."

"Nah, he's going out with Juliana Sandoval, you know her right?"

"The blonde with the white Gucci bag?"

"…I guess? I dunno, I don't really look at girls' bags, you know?"

* * *

"Remy, I need your help."

"I'm already teaching you French, I'm not a charity" Remy wiped his face with a towel, sighing. He stood up and started to put back the weights and Jamie joined in after a second. "What is it?"

"How do you ask out a girl like Rogue?"

Remy almost dropped the ten-pound weight on his foot.

"You want to ask out _Rogue_?" He felt his stomach drop because although Jamie was way younger than her and Remy was pretty great, thank you very much, there was still a minuscule chance that Rogue would prefer a good guy over him.

" _What_?!" Jamie himself almost dropped five pounds on his toes. "Of course not! I just mean, the Rogue _type_. Tough. Could easily kill you. And by the way, _ew._ Isn't Rogue, like, dating _you_ or something?"

"Or something" A huge weight fell off Remy's shoulders, something he'd take over crushed toes any day. "You have to _woo_ her, little _cupidon_. Romance the shit out of her" He blinked, staring at the boy. " _Merde_ , am I even allowed to swear in front of you?"

"I'm fourteen, I've heard worse" Jamie shrugged, putting down the last of the weights. "So, you mean flowers and opening doors, that kind of stuff?"

" _Oui_ " Remy took the towel off the bench, leaving the gym. "Just maybe start off small, alright? Don't scare her off, _mon ami_."

"Sure thing, _mec_."

"Don't ' _mec'_ me, you _petit-maître_."

"Sorry."

* * *

Violette sighed, stretching her whole body after their new team's training session. They worked surprisingly well together and she wasn't even the clumsiest one, only thanks to the fact that Alex and Piotr collided with each other mid-air and both collapsed on the ground, Piotr with a smoking arm and Alex practically in tears.

She called dibs on the bathroom and ran into the shower, groaning when the hot water hit her sore muscles.

She loved Valentine's Day when she was a child. The crowds of people in New Orleans gave her an opportunity to secure the next few months during one evening of pickpocketing. Besides, it was just a fun holiday. Full of warmth and celebrating love. She never had anyone she could celebrate it with in the original sense, but the older girls used to bring boxes of chocolates and give out one to each kid on the streets. Her mother back when Violette still lived with her used to give her and Jamie small valentines and tiny sweets, kissing their heads and smiling brightly.

But then Mystique happened and she started to live with a bunch of guys and the only one willing to celebrate Valentine's Day was Pietro, but for him, the only proper celebration was a lot of sex and none of them were into that.

But now, here she was. Living in the X-Men mansion, with a boyfriend of close to a year, with their first Valentine's Day upon them.

A ridiculously attractive boyfriend with whom she already agreed that they were both willing to have sex sometime in the foreseeable future.

Violette would be lying if she said that she never thought about it. Of course, she did, she was seventeen and in a relationship. She had some burning questions about… Stuff. His stuff, mainly.

Anyway, she thought that it would be fitting. Valentine's Day, close to their first anniversary, both of them consenting semi-adults. She felt like the fact that they both almost died three months prior only gave them more reasons to do things they wanted to whenever they got the chance.

And so, Violette walked out of the bathroom with a plan forming in her head.

* * *

Laura had no idea why Jamie was even more annoying than usual.

First thing in the morning he gave her a bowl of marshmallow hearts from Lucky Charms and a glass of pink grapefruit juice. Food was food though, so she ate it despite feeling a bit nauseous after clearing the bowl of milk-soaked sugar. The bitter juice helped her keep it down.

On their way to school, he insisted on carrying her backpack, although they only walked from the front door to the garage. After they buckled in and Ray started the car, Jamie gave up his turn of choosing the music, asking her what she'd want to listen too. And since she had generally close to no idea what music even was, she chose something that made Bobby and Amara cheer and Roberto cringe. As soon as the CD started to play, Bobby and Amara started to reenact an elaborate choreography.

"All you people look at me like I'm a little girl!" Bobby started to sing throwing his arms up in the air. Amara joined in and Roberto just sunk into the seat.

"I didn't know you like Britney Spears" Jamie gave her a smile.

"I don't know who she is" Laura shrugged. "I just liked the color of the cover."

It was a nice blue. Jamie reached for the box and turned it over in his hands, reading through the track list. Laura couldn't help but notice that the cover matched his eyes perfectly.

"It is nice" He agreed, putting it down with the rest.

"What do _you_ like?" Because unless it was Britney Spears, this whole thing made no sense. Why would he give up his turn? He always battled with everyone when it came to music choices.

He pointed towards an album with a man's face and bold white _Radiohead_ written over a red band.

"Radiohead's _The Bends_ is incredible" Jamie gave her a small smile. "It's a bit older than most of the stuff here. It played the first time Miss Munroe drove me to school, cause Ray left it in the day before."

"Maybe we can play it on the way back" She proposed quietly, looking out of the window.

She could hear Jamie's heartbeat pick up, but it also made no sense at all.

"I'd like that."

The whole day Jamie kept on bugging her even more than usual. At lunch, he wanted to carry her tray and she could hear most of their classmates snicker when they saw it. They surely thought she was incapable of doing things herself now. Her instinct kicked in and she practically ripped the tray out of Jamie's hands, growling. His smile fell a bit. She grumbled and handed the tray back to him.

On their way back she passed Ray the Radiohead CD and closed her eyes, listening. By the time they were back at the mansion, she had four songs memorized, the lyrics of one of them bouncing around her head.

_She looks like the real thing. She tastes like the real thing. My fake plastic love._

She almost asked Ray to replay the song. Almost. But they were already at the gates so she didn't bother to.

* * *

Tabitha sat on the ledge of her room's balcony, swinging her legs back and forth. There was a small heap of snow covering her thighs, but she ignored the chill crawling its way under her skin, watching the mansion's front door.

Soon enough, Alex opened the door and let Lorna walk out first. Tabby smiled and took a hold of the bucket next to her, dumping its contents onto the couple. Alex screamed as the snow got under his scarf, unused to the chill after years spent in Hawaii. Lorna was mostly okay, but she still glared at Tabitha and the metal railing of the balcony creaked ominously. Just to be safe, Tabby got back to her room, setting the bucket down next to Amara's bed.

They were going out, Tabitha, Jubilee, Ray and the two oblivious idiots that were her best friend and her best friend's almost boyfriend.

Tabby checked herself out in the mirror and smiled at her own reflection, before walking over to her door and opening it wide, smacking someone with it.

"Sorry" She walked over to Piotr, prepared to see a bloody nose or something in similar fashion, but she was pleasantly surprised to see him in his steel form. "Nice."

"Thank you?" He changed back, her compliment clearly confusing him.

Tabby could swear that an actual light bulb appeared over her head.

"Hey, Pete" She tried to run her fingers through his hair, but he was too tall for her to do it without climbing on her toes. She settled on putting her hand on his shoulder. "Wanna hang out with us?"

"You?"

"Just some mutants" She patted his chest, noting just how firm it was even without the steel coverage. "We're going bowling and stuff. Come on" Tabby gave him no opportunity to say no and grabbed his hand, running down the stairs.

Somehow, no one was really that surprised to see her dragging an over 260 lbs Russian behind her. They pilled into the X-Van and Tabby had to stop herself from laughing at how ridiculous Piotr looked crammed into the passenger seat. As soon as Ray parked in front of the bowling alley Pyro and Amara disappeared, leaving the four them behind.

"And they're clearly _not_ dating" Jubilee rolled her eyes and walked into the building, with a snickering Ray behind her.

"Come on, tin-man" Tabby grabbed his elbow and started to pull him inside. "We have to kick their asses."

* * *

The minute Kurt stepped through the front doors of the Institute Violette grabbed him and started to pull him towards the backyard.

"Well, hi to you too, _Liebchen_ " He chuckled, dropping his bag near the stairs.

"Shut up and just follow me, okay?" She turned to him with a serious look on her face. "I _really_ don't want anyone to get the stupid idea to follow us."

"You could just tell me where we're going" For some reason he had this dumb smile on his face that infuriated Violette to no end whenever it was directed at her. His 'Gotcha' smile reserved mostly for people he was messing with. "And I could just port us there."

"Nice try" She huffed, smiling back. "But your room is right next to Scott's and Laura is doing her homework."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"That's pretty sad, cause I thought we've thought of the same thing today."

Kurt's eyes widened and his mouth formed into a circle. Violette had to bite the inside of her cheek to not laugh.

"Oh."

"Oh indeed."

Kurt obediently followed her into the backyard, around the pool and into the edge of the woods surrounding the grounds before saying another word.

"Don't you want to be somewhere… With a roof, heating, and stuff?" He cleared his throat, before brushing his hair back with his free hand.

"Like what? The mansion with Jean who's slowly starting to read people's minds _without_ permission? Some fancy-schmancy hotel? Kurt, we're _broke_."

"True" He nodded and she knew perfectly well that beneath the holo-watch he was blushing.

They reached the place she chose for that occasion, a small clearing with a blanket tossed over the grass and a small bag next to it. Violette dropped Kurt's hand and straightened up the blanket, before facing him and smiling nervously.

"So…"

Kurt leaned in and kissed her, his hands slowly grabbing at her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, giving him the go-to lower them onto the ground. Kurt complied, slowly laying her down on the blanket but keeping his weight on his forearms as if not to crush her. Violette wrapped her leg around his hips and forcefully pushed down, giggling when Kurt let out a small moan as soon as their hips collided.

It was going great. Up until she remembered that it was the middle of February and snow started to fall around them.

"I fucking hate the world" She complained as they walked into the mansion.

"We'll try again later, _liebchen_ " Kurt wrapped his arm around her waist.

* * *

Alex cleared his throat and offered his arm to Lorna, staring deep into her eyes. She giggled, taking it and let him lead her into the mall.

"So" Lorna suddenly turned around and stepped in front of him, her hand grasping his while she walked backwards. "What are we doing here?"

"We're getting some Chinese, cause I know you love it" He pointed towards the food court, smiling. "And then we're going to the arcade so you can beat my ass in _Dance Dance Revolution_."

"Alex Summers" She abruptly stopped and he almost fell over trying not to crash into her. "You've just described the perfect date in a sentence. Keep that up and I don't even know what I'm going to do with you."

"Keep, I hope" He winked, before turning her around and wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

* * *

Once they've come back, Jubilee and Ray with angry frowns on their faces while Tabitha sat on Piotr's shoulders victorious, Amara tugged John aside, giggling. She waited until their friends walked through the front doors before turning to him and smiling widely.

"I've had so much fun" She grabbed his hands, squeezing them. "Thank you for tonight."

"It was all Jubes' idea" He smiled back. "But I'm glad ye had fun."

' _This is it'_ Thought Amara. ' _If I just lean in, we'll kiss.'_

She licked her lips and her hands slowly traveled up to his shoulders. She was about to stand on her tiptoes and lean in when he took a hold of her forearms and delicately pried her hands away from his body.

"Amara" He looked deep into her eyes, sighing. "We can't."

She tried to swallow down her hurt pride and nodded, feeling her eyes sting with unshed tears.

"I really care about you, sheila" He brushed back her hair and kissed her forehead. "Maybe in a few years, aye?"

She nodded, hiding her face in his neck and wrapping her arms around his waist.

* * *

It was almost time for her to sleep when she heard the knock on her door. Laura sniffed the air, before telling Jamie to come in.

Yes, he was annoying. But they were also kind of friends. And maybe he was looking for his sister.

"So, I don't know if you noticed, but it's Valentine's Day" He shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. "And it's kind of a big deal, but not really. It's, like, a holiday when u give stuff to people you like to show them that you like them and… Yeah, I should have probably told you in the morning, but never mind. Anyway, I have something for you."

He gave her a pink piece of paper cut into the shape of a heart, with a smaller, red heart drawn in the middle. Laura turned it around and took off the small candy taped to the back before reading the message written beneath it.

' _You're awesome. Jamie.'_

"I don't have anything to give to you" It's not like she knew she was supposed to.

"It's okay" He smiled. "Can we hug though? Because I feel like this moment needs a hug."

Laura nodded, taking a tentative step towards him. Jamie wrapped his arms around her and pressed his cheek against her temple. Laura let her body relax a bit, returning the hug.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Laura."

His body was warm against hers, and the only person she has ever had that much physical contact with excluding fighting was Logan. It felt very different though, but she decided to ignore it for now.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Jamie" She repeated, tucking the information away along with the date.

' _Next year, I'll have something for him.'_


	7. You Won't Be Able To Sleep Because Of Your Fluttering Heart

"Since when do they send out newbies on important missions?" Laura still wasn't fond of the interior of the lower levels, saying that they reminded her too much of the H.Y.D.R.A. base.

"Since the so-called newbies consist of a trained assassin, three ex evil-henchmen, a veteran of good versus evil fights and one actual newbie" Violette adjusted her top – ' _It feels_ so _good to be back in the old costume'_ – and started to lead her to the planning room. The rest of their team was already there. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

"You better get serious and fast, Spectre" Wolvie didn't look nearly as sure about this as she'd prefer. "You're going to break into Magneto's base."

"What?" John almost fell out of his chair, his lighter falling to the ground.

"Why?" Piotr leaned forward, resting his huge hands on the table.

"We're still unsure of where he stands after Apocalypse" Logan casually took a sip from his cup of coffee and Violette could feel her stomach churn. She knew what Magneto was really capable of after she fought him in Mexico. "There's also a huge chance Mystique's there with him, planning to take over the Brotherhood once again or possibly building a new team."

"And we wouldn't want that because…" Violette seriously considered throwing something at Gambit.

"Truce with the Brotherhood is something Charles has been working on for quite a while" Wolvie crossed his arms over his chest, raising a brow. "And do you really want to fight an organized group of villains on a weekly basis?"

"Touché."

* * *

"Be careful, okay?"

"Kurt, you don't even know where we're going. We could be raiding an ice-cream shop for all you know" Violette giggled, standing on her tip-toes to give him a reassuring kiss. "I will be."

"And you better not go down in the first three minutes" Kurt pointed an accusing finger at Alex as if it was all his fault that she had to go. "She needs someone to watch her back."

"Don't worry, _mon ami_ " Remy smirked, shuffling his cards. "I'll bring her back in one piece."

"Be careful around him" Kurt leaned towards her ear, whispering. "If he gets too friendly, just go ahead and kick him in the balls. Nobody even likes him that much, _liebchen_."

"Kurt!" She gasped, slapping his arm.

"What? It's the truth!"

"Alright, lovebirds, it's time to go" Alex tugged her away from her boyfriend and lead his team to the Velocity.

"Alright, so, Havok, Pyro, you'll be team Alpha" They could hear Wolvie's voice coming from the speakers as Laura and Piotr sat behind the controls.

"Team Alpha, cool" John quickly looked down at his palm, where Violette could see a very crude redrawing of the plans they were showed earlier with a huge arrow pointing towards where the entrance should be.

"The other team will consist of the Louisianans."

"Well, it's obvious who the favorites are" Remy leaned in towards her, chuckling.

"Colossus, X, you're staying back for obvious reasons. If it gets too hot in there, you join in, but only if it's really, _really_ necessary. You know what you're supposed to do?"

They all shouted various affirmatives.

"Good luck."

* * *

The first twenty minutes of their mission went great. Gambit took a quick look at the sealed door on the base's roof and blew off its handle, before spraying the opening with something. Faint red lasers became visible, in a shape of a simple 'x' across the whole door. Gambit took off his coat before grabbing her hand and slipping through one of the triangles between the edge of the opening and the lasers. Spectre focused on turning him invisible and shivered once his whole body disappeared. Once Gambit was safely on the other side and standing on a ladder leading up to the opening, he blew hot air onto the touchpad next to his hand and mimicked the greasy lines. The lasers disappeared and Spectre grabbed his coat with her right hand and flew down, careful not to let go of him. She could see a camera right in front of the ladder and took out the Polaroid camera Wolvie gave to her during the debrief. They walked towards the bottom of the cam, looking around for another.

"The end of the corridor, right" Gambit whispered, reaching blindly for her ear and landing his mouth underneath her eye.

"Bit to the left, _ami_ " Spectre rose into the air and Gambit's hand ran down her body and stopped at her ankle. She took a picture and winced at the loud shutter, quickly taking it and shaking her hand, while feeling Gambit press something into her calf. She took the tape and carefully taped the picture to the lens, counting to three soundlessly before letting the picture become visible.

Nothing happened. They were still unnoticed.

"One down, at least thirty more to go" She sighed, slowly lowering herself so that they'd maintain physical contact. Even when he was invisible, she could still tell he was wearing his shit-eating grin. "We take care of that one and you stay behind in the secured hallways, got it?"  
"I do know the plan, _Spectre_ " She had to mentally restrain herself from punching him in the face at the way he said her alias.

Once they did the exact same thing to the second cam, Spectre started to fly through the hallways alone, giving Gambit the green light once she was sure they were secure. He informed the team on their progress, watching her back and making sure they weren't being followed.

Once they've reached the place where they assumed the control room would be, Gambit repeated his previous lock picking technique and opened the door. The guard behind the panel was chewing a burrito, his eyes not even looking up from the screen as he waved them in.

"Jackson" He swallowed the bite, before wiping his hands on his uniform. "I bet you twenty on Mets tonight, alright?"

"I'm not that big on baseball, _mon ami_ " Before the guard could respond, Spectre grabbed the back of his head and hit his face on the desk in front of him. "I'm more of a football man myself."

"The more you know" Spectre sighed, shaking her head. "Team Alpha, we're in."

"Since when does Maggy use guards?" Gambit pushed the man down from his chair and sat in it, resting his feet on the control panel. "And human ones at that."

"Good question" She reached down, putting the man in a position where it would be easier for him to breathe. "Since when do the X-Men attack random humans?"

" _Touché_ " He saluted, watching as the rest of their team walked in safely through the west entrance.

Spectre's hand reached to adjust her mask, halfway through realizing that she didn't have it on. The only part of her costume that she didn't want back when presented with the option to. She was over hiding her face.

She sat down in the chair next to Gambit's, brushing her hair back and freezing.

"Didn't the guy say something about a _Jackson_?"

Gambit's eyes widened and as if hearing his name, a man opened the door and pushed a humongous red button next to it as soon as he saw them.

Alarms went off and a flash of common sense prompted Spectre to smash the screens displaying security footage before a bunch of guards seized her. Gambit was trying to fight off the ones who tried to capture him, but in an enclosed space and with a literal crowd blocking the way to the exit, a bunch of them eventually piled up on him. Spectre tried to kick the men off her, but one of them caught her ankles.

Violette caught Remy's gaze before eyeing the smashed monitors. He glanced at them before looking back, nodding as his hands stopped glowing pink.

* * *

It was a bit cliché, what with her and Remy being tied together back to back, waiting for Magneto to show up and no doubt start a long, overly detailed speech about his plans for world domination or something.

The only difference was that instead of ropes, they use metal cuffs that covered most of Violette's forearms.

"I think I can open them the traditional way" Remy started to move his fingers around, trying to reach his back pocket and brushing against Violette's butt more often than she felt comfortable with. "Sorry."

"Just do what you have to" She rolled her eyes, before staring straight at the metal doors in front of her, waiting for Magneto to swoop in with his long red cape and the ridiculous helmet.

Instead of that, she was greeted with the sight of a normal guy in khakis and a polo shirt, carrying a baby in his arms and looking annoyed as heck.

"For heaven's sake" He sighed, rubbing his face with his free hand. The baby tugged at his shirt and the man sighed, putting it down. The baby stood up and started to walk towards them before he stopped it. "No, Luna, stay back. Pietro leaves her with me for one day, _one day_ and you just have to show up."

Only then did Violette put two and two together and realized that this guy and Magneto were one and the same.

" _Dziadziuś_ " Luna sighed with as much resignation as a toddler could muster and turned to face the man. "Cookie, please."

"I know I promised cookies _skarbie_ , but _dziadziuś_ is a bit busy now. I'll get you a cookie as soon as I'm done with these two" He patted her blonde hair and turned to the intruders. "These two are from Xavier's, you buffoons. They pose as much threat as a fly. Release them."

Violette and Remy watched in silence as the guards let them out of their restrains, before slowly getting up and massaging their sore wrists.

"Now, why are you breaking into my _home_?" Magneto stood in front of them in his Birkenstocks and honestly he somehow still looked intimidating.

"W-We-" Violette tried very hard to come up with something. "Well, it's suspicious when you have a large base with hundreds of guards and stuff."

"Since when do you have a toddler?" Remy crouched down, looking at Luna with fascination.

"She's Pietro's" Violette hit the back of his head to get him to focus on the problem at hand. "So yeah, we just thought you might be planning to take over the world or something."

"So you're a _grandpa_!" Remy started to laugh.

"The reason why I'm heavily guarded is that there arose a new threat" Magneto picked up Luna, walking out of the room. Violette and Remy looked at each other before following him. "I have to take care of my family, for once."

"What is that threat that you mentioned?" Violette looked around the kitchen they were lead into.

Magneto set Luna down on a chair and gave her a cookie from a porcelain cookie jar. It was bizarre.

"A team of mutants, unsurprisingly" He offered them both a cookie and Violette took one, while Remy refused. "They call themselves the Hellfire Club. They've been around for longer than any of us and finally decided to do something about the do-gooders that have been meddling with their plans for a while."

"You mean us" Remy leaned back in his chair before setting his feet on the table. Magneto smacked him with a rolled-up newspaper. "Okay, _merde_ , I'm taking them off."

"Not only you, but also the people associated with you" Magneto brushed the crumbs off Luna's face. "That's why I'm living in a large base with hundreds of guards."

"Oh."

"Exactly" He sighed before standing up and handing them their communicators. "Now, could you tell your teammates to get the hell out of my home? You all are not as subtle as you'd like to believe."

* * *

Needless to say, they failed their mission.

"But we did find out a few things, _mon ami_ " Remy threw himself into a chair, shedding his coat on the way.

"We did too" Alex put down a floppy disc, before taking a seat next to the Cajun.

"I'm all ears" Wolvie stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed over his chest. Violette was pretty sure he had to restrain himself from choking them all.

"An organization of upper-class mutants is basically trying to kill us all off" She stood behind Remy, leaning against the cool, metal wall to clear her head. "And I think Magneto retired from being a supervillain. He offered us cookies and just let us go" She asked Remy not to mention Luna. Pietro didn't exactly ask her to never tell anyone, but she wasn't one to advertise the fact that one of their ex-enemies had a child. He had enough on his mind.

"We might know why actually" John took the disc and inserted it into the main computer. A bunch of files appeared before he clicked on the one titled 'LD'. A school picture of Lorna pulled up on the screen, her age, name and home address all appearing on the screen. John started to scroll down. Alex suddenly became very interested in his own shoes. "Here's her birth certificate."

There didn't seem to be anything out of order with it. Her full name – seriously, who named their child Lorna _Sally_ – date of birth, place of birth, names of her mother and father.

"What are we looking at, exactly?" Laura walked over to the computer, trying to find anything out of order.

"Her parents are Susanna Dane and Max Eisenhardt" Wolvie walked up next to John, his jaw set. "Going by aliases Eric Lensherr and Magneto."

They agreed to leave the issue of talking about it with Lorna to the Professor and swore not to tell anyone. Still, Violette felt as if she needed to tell Pietro. She had to stop herself from calling the Brotherhood as soon as she stepped out of the room and just made her way upstairs, planning on sleeping the bizarre mission off.

* * *

Kurt spent the day worrying about Violette and doing his homework. It was his senior year and he needed his grades to be as good as they were gonna get, after all.

He was in the middle of another session of worrying when something knocked on his window. He ported onto the balcony, surprised to see a raven pecking on his window.

A raven with eerily yellow eyes.

He stepped back and watched as it turned into his mother, ready to bolt at any moment.

"Kurt" She breathed out, something resembling a sad smile appearing on her face. "How are you?"

It was definitely the weirdest Kurt has ever felt.

"G-good" He nodded, swallowing. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to check up on you" She reached over to touch his cheek, retreating before her hand even brushed his skin. "And your sister?"

"Rouge's fine" She was better than fine, happier than Kurt has ever seen her but Mystique didn't need to know that. "Why-"

"Do you think we could see each other next week?" She looked scared and uncertain and Kurt has never seen the woman like that. She was always ready to strike, oozing power and confidence. Something inside him shifted. "I… I know you said you didn't want to have any contact with me, but… I just want to know what is going on in your lives."

He looked out onto the grounds, seeing the thin layer of snow slowly melt away. America looked so much different in winter than his homeland. Dirtier but also more welcoming. The winters he remembered were harsh but left the town looking innocent and straight out of a fairytale.

"Okay."

She nodded, smiling shyly. She left a card on the railing before turning back into a raven and flying away. Kurt took it into his hands, brushing his thumb over the phone number.

There was a knock on his door a second later and Kurt ported back in, yelling come in. Violette walked in and he immediately wrapped his arms around her, burying his nose in her hair.

"How did it go?" He asked, still hugging her as close to his body as possible.

"Got some info, nobody's injured, pretty good" Her nails scratched his back delicately, sending shivers down his spine. "Thought about seeing you before hitting the hay."

"I was so worried, but I'm glad you're okay liebchen" Kurt took a step back, looking her over, giving her a chance to notice the card still in his hand.

"What's that?" Before he had the chance to dismiss it she yanked it out of his grasp and looked it over. "Kurt, we're so talking about this after I've gotten some sleep."


	8. What Being Human Is All About

"No."

"Violette, could you just-"

"There's no way in _hell_ I'm supporting you in this, Kurt Wagner" She should probably swallow her pride and tell him it was okay to want to reconnect with his mother, but she had a hard week and this was giving her a headache. "She's a psychotic bitch."

"She's my mother."

"Hardly and only through biology" The words were harsh but true and they both knew it. Still, they seemed to fall on deaf ears. Violette sighed, feeling defeated. "Rogue won't agree."

"I know" He sat on her bed, his whole posture deflating. "But still, I need to try. I _want_ to try."

"You're crazy" She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his forehead, before resting her chin on the crown of his head. "I love you, you know?"

"I love you too" Kurt's arms wrapped around her middle, tugging her closer towards him, his nose bumping into her collarbone. "So _please_ , just let me do it."

"I'm not your mother" _And neither is she._ "You don't need my permission."

* * *

"No."

"Rogue-"

"I said no."

Kurt sighed, sitting next to her on her bed. He bumped her knee with his, but she just scooted away.

"Please, Anna-"

"Don't you dare guilt trip me with my given name" But he already saw her shoulders slump.

"It's because I love you. I don't want you to regret not doing it later on in your life" He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her towards him. "We're siblings and I want you to be happy."

"The only thing that woman can bring me is misery, Kurt" The conversation was visibly over. Kurt stood up, his hand lingering on her shoulder. He slowly made his way out. "And I love you too, little brother."

He felt a small smile make its way onto his face. Maybe not all was lost.

* * *

The worst part about her problems with Kurt was that the closest thing among X-Men that she could call her best friend was Ray, and he was taking the whole UCLA and Senior Year thing incredibly seriously. Violette found him in the Institute's library, head first in a book about evolution.

She was about to open her mouth when Ray told her that he was sorry but he was way too busy for anything. She pouted and went off to find her next victim.

It's weird what an afternoon in a super villain's kitchen can do. For example, help form a weird friendship.

"He's an idiot."

"I know."

"Have you told him though, _Violette_?"

"Stop it with the overly-French pronunciation of my name, _Remy_ " She rolled her eyes, landing another punch to the bag Remy was holding tightly. "He's going to get hurt and so will your girlfriend."

" _Merde_ , she's not my girlfriend!" He pushed the bag away from his body and Violette jumped out of the way at the last minute as it swung widely. " _Je suis désolé_."

"It's okay" She began to take off her gloves, trying not to show how much it scared her. "Do you want to talk about it, or…?"

"Rogue isn't up for it" Remy sighed, scratching his head. "Said somethin' 'bout _touchin'_ and my _Cajun hands not bein' able to stop themselves_ and how _it was better off this way_."

"Ouch" Violette sat down on the bench, patting the space next to her. "And you actually like her."

" _Oui_ " Remy sat beside her, leaning his head on her shoulder. "What should I do, _Violette_?"

"First, you stop mopping" She pushed his head away. " _Especially_ on another girl's shoulder. Second of all, you talk some sense into her. She's into you, you're into her, skin-on-skin contact isn't everything. And third, are you really _still_ smoking?"

"I'm sorry you can't, _Violette_."

"No, stop it, I'm supposed to be happy about not getting cancer."

"Remy'll try to air out from now on."

"See, you can be sweet when you put your mind into it" Violette stood up, picking up her bottle of water and taking a sip. "You just need to show her that."

"I did, many times" He took advantage of the empty bench and laid down on it, his hands covering his face. "The worst part, _mon ami_? It's not like she didn't flirt back."

"The only advice I can give you is to stay strong, Remy" She patted his shoulder and headed for the showers.

 _'Speaking of_ _the_ _devil'_ She thought as Rogue walked out of the elevator and jogged over

"Whatever he did, I didn't have anything to do with it."

"What?" The goth blinked a couple of times, stopping dead in her tracks.

"Sorry, thought you were about to blame me for something Gambit did."

"Why would Ah?"

"We're kind of friends I think" She shrugged, taking another sip from her bottle. "And he's not above blaming shit on others."

"Whatever" Rogue shook her head as if to clear her mind. "Ah need your help."

* * *

"Are you sure stalking is the best idea?"

"It's always the best idea" Rogue huffed, looking at the device in her hand. The small dot representing Kurt was moving steadily west.

"Yeah, no wonder Remy's into you" Violette said to herself, feeling weird behind the X-van's steering wheel. "Well, the bad news is that the road's ending."

They were basically in the middle of the woods.

"Good, cause he stopped moving" Rogue got out of the car and Violette followed her suit, running after her. "We'll keep tracking him on foot."

"Where did you even get that?"

"Ah looted through mission equipment" Keeping up with Rouge was a struggle. Violette had no idea how she walked so fast, maybe X Men training was just that much superior to New Mutants'. "Come on Violette, who knows what she might have set up!"

"A humble but sincere opportunity to reconnect with her child?" While she hated Mystique, Violette wasn't going to immediately assume the wors when it came to her intentions with Kurt. After all, it was her and the Brotherhood who ruined her efforts the last time.

"You can't possibly believe that!" Rogue walked towards the nearest clearing and froze. Violette trotted over and sighed.

In the middle of the clearing stood a humble lake house with a black SUV parked next to it. Violette peaked at the monitor of the tracking device and sure enough, it seemed like Kurt was inside.

"Somehow, I do."

* * *

It was the weekend. There was no way she was doing anything _that_ important - he knew first hand that she liked to do her homework right after it was assigned, which freed up her weekends. So she was free. On a weekend.

 _'Seriously Jamie, there's no reason to overthink this_ so _much.'_

Except that maybe there was. Because it's not like she gave him any signals after Valentine's Day or something.

_'She had no idea what the date meant.'_

So maybe he was overthinking it.

She was sitting on the sofa with Tabby and Piotr, the older girl explaining _Big Brother_ to them as they watched season 3 reruns.

"And Americans just watch it?" Piotr seemed clearly confused _why_ they would do that.

"Not only them, big guy" Tabby smirked, putting her hand on his thigh. Laura seemed a bit uncomfortable, so Jamie didn't feel that bad about taking her aside. "A big chunk of the world does."

"Laura?" The girl snapped her head in his direction, but he got used to that by now. She just reacted very fast compared to other people. She wasn't pissed. At least he hoped so. "Uhm, can we talk for a second?"

Tabby smirked knowingly and even Piotr gave him an encouraging smile.

"Okay" Laura didn't move from her seat, just raised her eyebrow in waiting.

"Uhm, alone?"

She looked at the remaining two on the couch and when they didn't protest, she got off the couch and followed him to the kitchen.

"Do you maybe want to go see a movie today?" He said it way too fast. That's not how it was supposed to go.

"In an actual theater?" Her eyes lit up and he was reminded how cool those things had to seem to someone who wasn't used to them. "Yeah."

"Great" His voice cracked. Oh no, his voice cracked. "The only thing I remember they're playing is a rom-com though, we can see if there's anything-"

"What's a rom-com?"

* * *

Kurt shifted uncomfortably in the chair, wiping his hands on his pants. He thought that the beginning would be awkward, but actually sitting down with his mother and her _girlfriend_ \- something he didn't expect to find out today - to eat dinner was _worse_.

"I hope you like curry, Kurt" His mother walked in from the kitchen with a heaping bowl of rice in one hand and a tureen in the other. She placed both of them in the middle of the table and started filling up his plate.

"Uhm, sure, thank you" He smiled unsurely at the woman, taking his plate back from her.

They were about to start eating when somebody knocked on the door.

His mother quickly turned into her Principal Darkholme disguise and motioned for Kurt to do the same as she walked over to open it. Irene smiled warmly and as soon as Mystique opened the door, Kurt's jaw hit the floor.

"Uhm, hello Mystique" Violette uncertainly waved her hand. He could clearly see Rogue standing behind her, looking sheepish. "Kurt. A lady I don't know. Would you all believe us if we told you that we just randomly got lost in these woods or not?"

* * *

Jamie wasn't sure why Laura chose to see the rom-com _after_ he explained what it was. And it wasn't like _How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days_ sounded like an amazing movie with an incredible premise.

"So" He kicked a small rock that happened to be in his way. "What did you think?"

"It was enjoyable, I guess" She munched on the remaining popcorn. Somehow Jamie couldn't stomach anything during the movie, so their purchase of an extra large seemed a bit silly in hindsight. "Not my kind of a thing, I think. You?"

"Same here" He scrambled for anything that could save their outing. "Uhm, wanna check out the swings in this park?"

Laura seemed to be thinking about something very hard before she gave him a tentative yes. He wasn't really one to push people, so he just lead her to the playground. They sat next to each other and softly swung, watching people pass them by.

"Thank you" Jamie almost fell off his swing when he heard her break the silence. "For taking me out of the mansion. No one else tries to."

"Thanks for agreeing to hang out with me" _Now's your chance dude._ "Uhm, I really like you, Laura."

She seemed to contemplate what his words meant for a very long time. He had no idea that he could feel this warm in this chilly March air.

"I like you too."

Maybe it wasn't what he meant. It didn't matter. Because her smile at that moment was worth her not getting just how deeply he felt about her.

* * *

Logan lit up his cigar, looking through the files Fury sent him concerning the Hellfire Club. They were few and mostly empty, with as little as three confirmed names and no aliases.

Two of them, Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost didn't ring any bells. The blonde woman wearing all white looked like any generic Los Angeles beauty he's ever seen. There were no pictures connected to the man.

The third name however complicated things. Very much so.

In black, bold letters, ' _Emmanuel DaCosta'_ drew his eyes back to the page.

Except for the pictures of Frost, everything else in the files concerns DaCosta, down to the last sentence on page 4.

 _His youngest son, Roberto DaCosta (alias: SUNSPOT), is currently enrolled in_ Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. _(Suspected member)._

Logan sighed, knowing that sooner rather than later he had to bring these to Chuck's office and talk to him about it. That he should encourage Charles to dig through the boy's mind, despite not believing that he had anything to do with the club.

He grabbed the papers and started to make his way to the elevator, dreading what was about to take place.

* * *

After that fiasco, Jamie turned to the only person he knew could help him.

"Give me a break, _garçon._ "

"Remy, this time it's not French."

"I _know."_

The man was lying face down on his bed, his voice muffled by the pillow his face was buried in. Gambit's room was impeccable and appeared completely untouched as if a trace of him being in _his own room_ would somehow stain his reputation. Jamie let himself in and refused to move from his spot on the carpet.

"She had no idea that I _really_ like her and now I don't know how to explain it to her."

"What really liking means or that she had no idea?"

"Oh ha, ha, very funny."

Remy sighed and sat up, patting the space next to him. Jamie sat on the covers and waited for Remy to tell him something helpful.

"Give her some time, _mon ami_ " He put his hand on Jamie's shoulder, squeezing. "Also, you've got any idea how to make Rogue change her mind?"

"Impossible" Jamie shook his head. "She'll either change her opinion on her own or never."

" _Merde_ " Remy turned his back to Jamie and went back to suffocating himself among the covers. "Wake me up if she ever does."

* * *

Kurt didn't buy it.

"Why would you do that?" He insisted on driving the van with the girls both seating in the back seat. Maybe he learned that trick from Ororo, cause nothing made her feel more stupid than his eyes boring into her from the rearview mirror. "You don't want to contact her and I respect that, Rogue. I don't understand why you can't respect my decision to stay in touch with our mother. And you" His eyes moved back to Violette. "You're unbelievable. It doesn't concern you at all."

"If it concerns you, then it does" She tried to make herself smaller, hoping it would make her disappear from the mirror's range. "I can't let you get hurt."

"Same here" Rogue chimed in, resting her forehead on the surface of the cool window.

"Why won't you two treat me like an equal!" The van screeched to a holt and Kur turned to face them. "I'm not Jamie, stop treating me like I'm a child!"

That outburst completely shut Violette up. She closed her mouth and sat back, feeling as if he just punched her in the gut.

The remainder of the car drive was in complete silence, with Kurt slamming the door as soon as he got out of the car and porting to his room.

"Damn his flair for dramatics, he's going to wreck this car one day" Violette tried to lighten the mood, but Rogue didn't move an inch.

"Do you think he's gonna go back to hatin' me?"

"No" Violette put what she hoped to be a reassuring hand on the goth girl's shoulder. "He's probably mostly mad at me."

Rogue nodded and squeezed her hand with her own gloved one before exiting the van, leaving Violette alone in the garage. As soon as she walked out, Violette felt hot tears fall down her cheeks.

* * *

" _Mon amour_?" It was terrible, hearing these words leave his lips and knowing they could never truly have that. Not in the way both of them wanted. "Are you okay?"

"Ah'm not sure" She was standing in his doorway, her feet dragging her to his room without her conscious decision to do so.

"Rogue, did something happen?" He got off the bed and walked towards her, his height towering over her frame per usual.

She got so used to him being there when she was sad. When she felt like she screwed up and hurt Kurt. When the world seemed to be collapsing and closing in on her. She took a step forward and buried her face in his black T-shirt, her arms wrapping around his fully covered waist. She was awfully aware of her uncovered shoulders when he let his own arms circle around her, his hands touching the fabric on the small of her back.

"Oh, _cherie_ " He sighed when she started to delicately shake with silent sobs. "You're really confusing this ol' Cajun heart of mine."


	9. You Won't Be Seventeen Forever

Violette woke up on April twelfth, two-thousand-and-three, eighteen and full of existential dread. She felt as if she should have it all figured out by now. Ray seemed to know what he was doing. She knew Jean and Scott surely had their futures planned out since kindergarten. Kurt wanted to take a gap year. Hell, _Bobby_ knew what he wanted to study and he was a year below her. Most of them would be getting into colleges, but what about her?

She laid in bed for another twenty minutes, staring at the ceiling. Something seemed to be choking her, four words she didn't want to admit to herself.

Jean studied at NYU School of Medicine. Scott was studying Adult Learning & Leadership at Columbia, and what she was going to do after high school?

"I don't know" She whispered, getting that sudden, cold feeling in her chest. She looked at her alarm clock and sighed, knowing she had twenty minutes before she had to get ready for the morning training session. She decided to use that time to maybe be the first in line for the bathroom for once.

Her mother never did anything with herself and ended up dependent on an abuser.

The hot water pounding against her skin pushed the thoughts away, relaxing her aching muscles. The training she did with X-Force was three times harder than the one she got used to while in the New Mutants. She still felt like it was the two weakest links leading pros when it came to Alex and her. Wolvie could try as hard as he wanted to make it all feel organic, but they were still stuck with figuring out how to stop Pyro, Gambit, and Laura from trying to complete the simulations on their own.

"How's being eighteen?" Laura asked her as soon as she stepped back into their room.

Violette started to brush her hair and looked herself over in the mirror, willing to see any kind of change at all. She always imagined herself to be a bit more… grown up by the time she would be eighteen.

"Not that different from when I was fifteen" Her brush got stuck in a knot at the back of her head. She cursed under her breath and started to tug it out. "Have you ever thought about what you're going to do once you're an adult."

"There was only one option until recently."

Violette cursed herself for talking about the future with someone who never imagined they'd have one.

They stayed silent until they ran into St. John in the elevator.

"Feelin' ol' yet?" He smirked, bumping his shoulder into Violette's.

"A bit."

He tried to talk their ears off, but she opted to look straight ahead. When the elevator door opened her eyes immediately met Remy's.

" _Bonne fête_ " He nodded, poking her side with his bo staff.

"What is it with men and inflicting bodily harm on someone's birthday?" She rolled her eyes, adjusting her top. " _Merci_."

Piotr gave her a birthday hug and Alex wished her less training sessions.

"No way, Casper" Of course Logan decided to walk in at that moment. Alex turned red and turned to face the wall. "But it is your eighteenth, so you choose the mode."

* * *

Jamie cornered Laura right after her training session.

"I need your help" He tried to focus on the problem at hand and ignore the part of him that wanted to focus solely on _her_. "I wanted to do something for Violet's birthday. Ray and Tabby are driving me to the mall after school, I need you to keep an eye on her at all times. I know you can do it and not be found out and that would mean a lot to me."

"Okay" Laura nodded and gave him a small smile upon seeing his huge grin.

"You're the best" He couldn't stop himself from hugging her and shivered when her arms wrapped around his waist. "I owe you one!"

Jamie untangled himself from her and waved, tripping over his own feet as he was rounding the corner and splitting in two.

* * *

Things between her and Kurt were still tense, so she certainly didn't expect him to barge into her room completely unannounced. Laura's crawls were at the ready and Violette shot energy out of the tips of her fingers faster than she could process the image of her boyfriend.

"Fuck!" She yelled as Kurt hissed, rubbing his arm. "Jesus, Kurt, it's a burn you're only making it worse!"

"Don't worry, fur got the most of it" He sighed. "Probably should've thought this through, _ja_?"

"With us being straight out of training? Definitely" She wanted to wrap her arms around him, bury her face in his chest and forget about any and all problems they had. She longed for the closeness she jeopardized by not trusting him to make his own decisions. It was stupid. It was childish. Of course, it was something she did. "Hi, by the way."

"Happy birthday" He leaned in and kissed her cheek, but there was underlying stiffness in the gesture. Violette locked eyes with Laura, whose brows furrowed as she grabbed her bag and walked to the door.

_Great, bet he also reeks of misery._

"You promised you'd celebrate this one properly" Kurt's fingers on her shoulder kept creeping up as if to avoid accidentally touching the exposed skin on her arm. She knew that move. He used it before. "So, how do you feel about going out after school?"

She wanted to think of it as him extending a hand to her to mend things back together, but it wasn't like that. This was a duty, he felt as if he had to do it.

"I don't think I'm up for it" She gave him a sad smile. "'m not feeling well."

Something shone in his eyes before he nodded and turned on his image inducer. He gave her a smile and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

_Low blow._

She hoped Ray had a free spot in the van.

* * *

He didn't.

Violette opted to fly instead of taking the seat Rahne offered to her. It wasn't an awfully long journey, but just enough to make her tired. Ray and Jamie both sent her worried looks, but she turned invisible and flew off.

The wind against her face made her eyes water and she suddenly missed her old mask. It helped keep her eyes from drying out. It certainly didn't help with how she was feeling.

She noticed a newsstand right below her. Before she knew it, for the first time in her life she was buying cigarettes legally.

She welcomed the familiar taste, letting the motions of smoking calm her down.

_When did my life turn back to shit?_

The remaining walk to Bayville High was spent going through the pack and making sure to look around before she lit the cigarettes with small zaps.

She smoked four before stepping on campus and putting the pack safely in her pocket.

* * *

Laura was the first one to find her at school during the first recess between classes.

"You smoke?"

"I used to" The pack suddenly felt heavy in her pocket. "Don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Logan will know."

"I'm prepared for that" She sighed, stopping and turning to look at her roommate. "Did you want something?"  
"You're feeling awful. And look like it."

"Thanks, you don't need to be this kind on my birthday" Violette raised her eyebrow. "Since when do you care that much about me?"

Laura's cheeks flushed and her mouth tensed. There was something there alright.  
"Just talk to someone. I don't want our room to reek of misery."

Violette watched Laura disappear into the crowd of students before shaking her head and walking towards the girl's locker room.

She thanked God for the fact that Kurt has been excused from gym class indefinitely thanks to an imagined injury. The last thing she wanted to do was spend an hour looking at him while he worked out when things between them were this tense.

As soon as the next recess started, Violette flew to the bleachers while invisible, hoping that would be enough to keep away from her housemates.

As if to mock her, the universe placed Lorna in Violette's favorite spot underneath them.

"What are you doing here?" She asked the green-haired mutant, the grip she had on her pack tightening.

"Alex said he had no idea where you'd be, so I asked Kitty and she told me Kurt wouldn't know either and that I should ask Tabitha, she also had no idea but she mentioned that you used to be a smoker and that I should try the school's smoking spots."

"Fuck" _Well, no need to hide it then._ She took a cig out and lit it up, sighing. "Just don't tell them I'm doing this. And why would you be looking for me?"

"Sure" Lorna's eyes moved to Violette's sneakers. "I heard that you used to work for Magneto."

"No" Violette blew the smoke out, flicking the ashes off. "I worked for Mystique, who worked for Magneto, get your facts straight. Remy, Piotr, and St. John worked for Magneto. They know him way better than I do."

"You lived with my siblings."

Violette's hand froze on its way to put the cigarette back in her mouth.

"I used to room with Pietro" It was like a knife to the heart, the thought of her days in the Boarding House. The bond she formed with the boys, sullied by the woman who brought them together. "I've lived with Wanda for maybe two weeks. I'm not gonna talk about their lives, you can ask them yourself. Or go to Rogue, she can tell you about Pietro."

"I just want to know one thing" Lorna finally met her eyes and to her, the kid looked lost and way younger than she actually was. Violette could see the resemblance now – Pietro tried to keep his feelings bottled up inside, but his eyes always gave him away. Lorna was maybe more open with her feelings, but looking into her eyes felt like staring straight into her soul. Violette diverted her gaze. "Are they really… Evil?"

Something inside Violette broke and the question felt like a slap to her face. It was as if she was suddenly aware of where she was and how much time had passed. _Why would she think that?_

"You're scared of turning into your father" Violette answered her own question and didn't need to wait for Lorna's confirmation. _Who gave her the idea that they're evil? Did someone talk about them behind my back? After all this time, after Apocalypse?_ "They're not. Never were. Don't worry, lack of both conscience and a soul isn't hereditary. Besides, they've got a more important thing on their plates than plotting the end of the world."

She didn't plan on saying more about them but chose to disclose something else.

"Jamie's father killed our mother" She never really acknowledged that. Everyone who was there at the Institute during her recovery knew that through the grapevine, including the Brotherhood. She didn't bother telling it to anyone since it was none of their business. She tried to think as little about her mother as possible and maybe that was finally catching u to her. She let go of the cig and stomped it out. "He is a fucking monster. And there's no way Jamie will grow up to be him."

Violette patted the girl's shoulder and made her way back to the school, leaving the pack behind.

* * *

Taking German as a foreign language seemed like the worst idea at the times when she wanted to forget about Kurt. Thank God none of her fellow students had even a hint of a god accent, otherwise, she'd surely be bawling by now. What was worse though, was having Home Economics with Kurt as her desk partner. Passive-aggressive cupcake baking resulted in Kitty-quality baked goods at best.

He was already standing next to the table when she arrived and gave her a tense smile. She refused to give one back, instead, ripping the textbook he was hiding behind out of his hands, not letting him protest before spilling what was running through her mind for the past week.

"I'm sorry, okay?" She sighed, setting the book next to her. "And I've told you I'm sorry numerous times. If that's not enough then tell me, but don't try to fake normalcy. I'm not an idiot."

He closed his mouth, his hands closing around the space where the book used to be as if he needed a crutch. Violette raised her brow, waiting.

"I don't need a mother" He finally said, looking her straight in the eye. "I've got plenty as we both know."

"And I'm sorry for that, but I can't help but constantly be worried about people I love" Although they both already said it before, the word somehow felt foreign after the week. "It's not that I think you're incapable of taking care of yourself, it's that I don't trust Mystique because I've known her for years. Hell, I've known her way longer than you do. I've been on the receiving end of her 'care', and when it came to it, we were alone, with nothing to fall back on. You weren't in Bayville when we had to come to the Institute because Todd was dying and there was no other place for us to turn. Although there was no way we'd have felt safe there. And I don't want that for you. Cause I feel like she's going to disappoint, hurt and leave you."

It was too much for a classroom. It was too personal, too raw. Before Kurt could say something, the teacher burst into the class, apologizing for being late.

The second the bell rang Kurt grabbed her arm to prevent her from fleeing. She didn't even notice the fact that that's what she was readying herself to do. Sharing her feelings felt like oversharing with every passing second of silence, and she was after an hour without a response. He knew her too well.

"Okay."

It's enough to lift the weight off her shoulders and make her relax.

"Maybe I'm feeling alright after all. Wanna go to Gut Bomb for lunch?"

He gave her a smile, this time a real one, and she felt as if she could breathe again.

* * *

Jamie felt anxious as he sat in the backseat of the X-Van. Tabitha was playing with the radio, still unsure whether she wanted to pick something from the stack of CDs stashed in the glove compartment. Ray looked ready to snap and just choose himself.

"So, Jamie" Ray glanced at him through the rear-view mirror for a second. "You have any idea what you want to get for her?"

Jamie's hand closed around his backpack, suddenly feeling shy and unsure about his idea.

"Y-Yeah" He nodded, doubt filling his guts. He needed to change the subject. "Tabby, what about A Flock of Seagulls?"  
"Y'all are closeted New-wave lovers, you can hide behind your Radiohead but I know you boys secretly listen to Duran Duran" She giggled, taking the CD out of its casing and putting it in. "But I'm skipping to _Space Age Love Song_."

Ray sighed and rolled his eyes, but Jamie could clearly see the smile that was forming on his face.

* * *

Bobby watched as Violette tried to hide the enormous grin that appeared on her face when they all yelled surprise. They all knew the detached, cold demeanor was just an act, but she still put it up every once in while for some reason. He watched as she turned around to face Kurt and how his eyes lit up when they met hers. The pure adoration visible on his face. He could see the same look on Sam's face whenever he looked at Rahne, hell, he could see it on Scott's face whenever Jean was around. He turned to look at Jubes, really look at her, and found nothing. She was his best friend of course, but the longer he looked at her, the more he realized there was never a time when he wanted to do anything with her they already weren't doing. Never even thought of kissing her. He did love her, but it was the same love he had for his brother – unconditional, but platonic.

_So why was I so bent on dating her?_

He didn't feel ready to answer that, so he just cheered when his ex-teammate blew out the candles.

* * *

"I got you something" Jamie let out a huge breath, before shoving the album into her hands. "I may have stolen some of your private photos but it was all for a good cause I swear!"

Violette swallowed the lump that formed in her throat, caressing the cover. It was cheesy to give her something that was purple in color, but it was from Jamie so she loved it even more, knowing it came from a place of love. She was stalling, knowing that what was inside could bring back the same thoughts she had in the morning. What was worse, it could make her think about her parents. Since Jamie was suddenly thrust back into her life, she rarely thought about them. She knew they were gone, so it seemed pointless to think about them, there was nothing she could do to save them now. That train of thought seemed heartless, but she did what she had to do in order to keep her heart intact. She never even gave it a passing thought that she was officially an orphan.

She knew her mother would understand, cause that's the type of woman she was – understanding, full of unconditional love. She didn't bat an eye when her daughter started to float above the ceiling. She didn't even look surprised. Maybe there was a history of mutants in her family, but Violette had no way of knowing it now.

She had no idea what her father would think of it all. She barely remembered him, the hazy image of a man, surely influenced by the photo she had of him, talking to her being her only memory.

And sure enough, the first picture that greeted her was the one she had with her father. It looked beaten and ancient against the stark white page of a new photo album. She let her pointer finger brush against the face of a man she never had the chance to really know.

"There are some newer ones too" Jamie stepped closer to her and skipped a few pages, but her eyes still found the photograph she also kept with her through the years. She used to look at it every night, quietly apologizing. But now Jamie was no longer five and stood as tall as her, ready to grow even more.

He stopped on a page with a photo of her previous team unwinding at the pool. She stood next to Ray, both of them standing with their arms crossed over their chests and giving Roberto judging looks as he flexed. The sentence written below was the thing that grabbed her attention first, though.

' _Sometimes it seems like Ray is her actual long-lost brother. May 2002'_

It was written in French.

Her eyes were immediately wet and any words of thanks she had disappeared.

"How?"

"Remy's been helping me" Jamie pointed at the man standing next to them, no doubt eavesdropping on their conversation. "Wait, let me think… _We became friends._ "

Violette wrapped her arms around her brother, a huge smile on her face. Remy helpfully took the album out of her hands, so she could give Jamie a better hug.

" _You're the best brother I could ever hope to have_."

"I mean I know a bit, but that was way too fast."

She laughed, squeezing him once more before taking a step back and lunging herself into Remy's unsuspecting arms.

" _Merde!_ " He instinctively caught her, chuckling. "No need t'jump me, _Violette._ Doubt your boyfriend will appreciate that, _hm_?" 

* * *

"Is this not bothering you at all?"

Rogue glanced up from the cup of soda she was nursing to see Violette and Remy hug and chuckle about something with Jamie right next to them.

"No" She shook her head and looked at her brother. "Should it?"

"Come on, he's a total flirt!" Kurt huffed and sat next to her on the couch.

"Yeah" There was no going around that, she knew it. It was Remy's natural state, for God's sake some of the aspects of his mutations were light subliminal suggestions and strong empathy, he was _born_ a great flirt. But she also knew there was more bark than bite behind his words. "But it's Violette. He's not into your girlfriend if that's what you're worried about."

They could both hear them exchange some words in French.

"Are you worried he's got more in common with her than you?"

She hit the nail right on the head. Kurt averted his gaze.

"Well, they do" She shrugged. "Both part Cajun, French-speaking, knew each other briefly when they were kids, villainous past, now are a part of the same team. Thing is, that's a bit too much for anything beyond a platonic relationship in my opinion. Plus they'd drive each other crazy."

"You can't know that."

"Oh, I'm positive" Rogue drank the remaining contents of her cup in one go and turned towards him. "She loves you a lot, Kurt."

"This past week made me wonder whether it's enough" He sighed, running his hand over his face. "She just runs blindly after me. What if I was actually in danger? I know it was actually your idea, but you're not her."

"I think you two are way too worried about each other right now" She patted his shoulder. "And you still haven't told me why I should be bothered by Remy being a flirt."

"Oh come on, Rogue" Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'm foreign, not stupid." 

* * *

"Violette" Sam's head popped out from behind the corner. "A call for ya."

Her eyebrow rose as she excused herself from the conversation. She took the phone out of Sam's hands and pressed it to her ear.

"Yeah?"

"Happy birthday, V" She could feel her throat close up. "Bet you didn't see that coming."

"No" She chuckled. "How's Luna?"

"Oh, she's great" She could hear Pietro saying something away from the phone. "Heard you two ran into each other."

"Yeah, she probably wouldn't remember."

"Nah, she does" She could hear his smirk. "Actually, she's got something to say to you, don't you, Luna?"

"'Appy birday!" Violette could feel tears well up in her eyes. Could it possibly mean that she was forgiven for leaving them? At least a bit?

"Thank you, sweetheart" She smiled, looking at Kurt, who was currently talking to Rogue about something.

"So, Violette" Pietro was back on the phone and suddenly there was obvious restraint in his voice. "I've been talking to the guys and maybe… You'd like to come by sometime? Meet Luna properly and all that. Maybe next week?"

"Yeah, I'd love that. And thanks."

"No problem, see ya, V."


	10. It'll Take a Village to Make a Man of Me, So Why Couldn't You Love Me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a failure when it comes to uploading but oh well, I never forgot about this story and I still want to finish it. Also go listen to Raleigh Ritchie's new song Time in a Tree, it's divine.

"I should go with you just to fuck with 'em" St. John chuckled and earned himself a slap on the arm from Amara. "Ouch, what's that for?"

"Being an asshole" The younger girl furrowed her brows before turning to Violette. "Why are you all suddenly okay with each other again?"

Violette bit her tongue before saying that she couldn't lose her closest friend's daughter's childhood. Pietro never said whether it was okay for the others to know, so she never mentioned it.

In the back of her head, the voice present there since the beginning of the Apocalypse fiasco whispered that the less people knew the safer she was.

There was a sudden sharp pain in her head, replacing her thoughts with suffering. She closed her eyes, her fingers closing around the roots of her hair, her knees buckling. Tears sprung to her eyes and spilled down her cheeks in hot streams and two seconds later she collapsed to the floor, the pain in her head completely gone.

She shifted her eyes to Jin, whose fingers were gripping Amara's shoulder after he tried to stop her from falling. They too were on the floor looking worse for wear.

"What was that?" Amara chocked out, rubbing the center of her forehead in slow circles.

As if he heard her, the Professor sent them all a telepathic message.

_It's Jean, nothing to worry about._

"Nothing to worry about, yeah right" Violette rolled her shoulders a couple of times, already feeling exhausted after only three hours out of bed. "I'm glad I'm getting away from here for the day, let me tell you."

* * *

It felt a bit weird to walk to the Boarding House's porch with Violette next to her. Kitty got so used to doing this alone, being the only one really interacting with them, but this felt as if Violette was imposing on something that was Kitty's. Even though Kitty thought she should feel the opposite.

The smile that lit up Fred's face when he opened the door only proved that to her.

"Violette!" He hugged her and Kitty just stood there, watching. Something in her stomach churned. "Oh, hi Kitty. Lance's upstairs."

Fred lead them to the living room, where Todd was watching Oprah and sketching her face while she talked with a cancer survivor. He immediately abandoned the drawing to instead great Violette. And then Kitty.

Wanda walked into the room with Luna in her arms and finally Kitty felt welcome in the house. Luna twisted out of her aunt's grip to run over to her and give her a quick hug.

"Tat!" She had a trouble with Cs and Ks that sounded similar to the one in Kitty's name and substituted them with Ts. Pietro and Lance decided to dodge a bullet by teaching Luna to call her Cat. Todd huffed about them ruining all of the fun in his life but agreed that Luna calling her 'Titty' would get old pretty fast.

"Hi, pumpkin" Kitty smiled, knowing if it was going to get worse she would ad least have the Brotherhood girls. "How's it going, Wanda?"

"It's alright" She shrugged, before nodding to Violette in greeting. She sat down next to Kitty and whispered quietly into her ear. "They're all freaking out."

As if to punctuate her words, Lance fell down the stairs, quickly dusted himself off and gave them all a chuckle.

_Fucking dork._

Kitty knew it would be ridiculous to get jealous over the way Lance looked at Violette. They all looked at her this way and it had everything to do with being a family way back when. It wasn't the least bit romantic in nature.

But it was full of emotion and that's what scared her.

The only time Lance would express his emotions would be accidental. The sudden kick of honesty Apocalypse gave him disappeared within a week and prompted him to build even bigger walls up. She knew it wasn't really all her fault – his childhood, Mystique, hell  _Violette_ all had a bigger hand in building them, but Kitty herself helped him keep his guard up.

_You're nothing but a hood._

She looked down at the child in her hands, babbling away and using the few words she knew to tell Kitty about what she did that week.

Pietro was still nowhere to be found, but Kitty didn't want to ask about it. She hated the fact that she was happy that Violette at least wasn't getting attention from him at the moment.

* * *

Pietro cursed Nick Fury silently, praying that it wouldn't finally be the day that he was found out. The news of his new mission came around four am but as always he was already up and getting ready for his morning practice after checking up on Luna. By five am he was waiting for the chopper at the meet up point, the black leather suit still feeling like a Wolverine costume on his body, even after the four months of using it.

It was a solo mission, which happened every now and again – usually it was him, Wanda and surprisingly Todd, since Freddy and Lance weren't really useful in stealthy recons. And to be honest Pietro liked it that way, that almost always there was a B-hood member watching over his daughter, keeping her safe. Fury even scheduled training sessions as a rotation of threes.

This week on Monday it was going to be Quicksilver, Blob and Avalanche, on Tuesday Blob, Avalanche and Toad, Wednesday Avalanche, Toad, and Scarlet Witch, Thursday Toad, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver, and on Friday Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Blob. Next week it will be completely different. Weekends mostly off, two week days completely off from official training, two weeks between training sessions in an identical squad, only once a month a training session for the entire Brotherhood. It kept them on their toes and helped them get more in tune with each other by being forced to work without some of the powers they would otherwise rely on. Pietro honestly never really tried to work together with anyone besides Wanda on the battlefield and now here he was, forced to rely on the pure brute forces of Freddy's muscles and Lance's earthquakes.

The chopper stopped a foot above the ground and Pietro climbed in with the help of Nick Fury's extended hand.

"Quicksilver" The man had half of a burning cigarette in his hand and flicked of the ash carelessly. "A quick recon. I want you in and out immediately. Map out the place. Most importantly" Fury reached in the bag next to him, taking out something that looked incredibly familiar to Pietro. "You have to wear this."

It was a helmet, similar to the one his father had.

"Telepaths?" He took the helmet and turned it over in his hands. "I hope I'm not breaking into Xavier's."  
"No" Fury took a drag. Pietro's nose wrinkled at the smoke taking up the space of the closed chopper. "Actually, the info you're retrieving now will go to Xavier's after HQ's edit. This in an elitist mutant organization, targeting their own kind first and foremost."

Pietro didn't ask for more information, knowing he wouldn't be given any. Working for SHIELD meant not asking too many questions.

* * *

Lance felt incredibly tense watching Violette play with Luna. It was as if two different parts of his life collided. The last time Violette was a major part of his life they were all low-level criminals but they all had to change for the small human – probably mutant, but Luna didn't appear to have any powers for now – who still put everything in her mouth.

Todd grabbed a doll out of Violette's hand with his tongue, causing Luna to break into a fit of giggles.

Violette was still a picture of his past. Despite living in the fancy mansion she stayed the same – wearing thrift shop clothes, silently observing the B-hood before striking with a snappy comment. Luna on the other hand was a pristine dream in pastel, dotted on by everyone in the room because of her bright, bubbly self.

He used to think that Violette was destined to stay with them. The more he thought about it now, the more he couldn't believe how naive he was. They were a dead end for the girl, too angry and hurt to let her evolve. If it wasn't for Luna they'd still be giving Violette the silent treatment or worse, let her, Kitty and the X-geeks take on Apocalypse on their own.

Todd barely missed a small blue energy strike. Luna stared in awe at Violette's glowing fingertip.

He shuddered, his hand automatically closing tighter around his girlfriend's hip.

He wasn't going to lose Kitty again. He only just got her back.

* * *

It was already past four when he got back home. The recon itself was short, but the debriefing after took hours. He just wanted to take a shower and hug his daughter before collapsing on the floor.

He completely forgot that Violette would be there.

"Hi" She stood in the middle of  _their_ living room, delicately bouncing a napping Luna in her arms. "Lance and Kitty went to pick up some food. Are chicken nuggets okay with you?"

It like being transported into a bizarre alternate universe, one where nothing ever went to shit between them. He was at a loss for words, so he just nodded.

* * *

"Do you want her to come back?"

He quickly glanced at her before pulling into the Gut Bomb parking lot.

"What kind of a question is that?"

Kitty sighed, adjusting her ponytail.

"I mean, are you considering asking her to come back?"

"Of course not" Lance shrugged, picking a spot nearest the entrance. As soon as the brake was secure and the engine off he shifted to face her. "Besides, it's not like she'd want to."

Her gaze must have given her away, because Lance seemed to get that it wasn't the point.

"We all miss her sometimes, but I guess it must be the same thing you feel about your parents" He brushed her hair away, tucking it behind her ear. "We wouldn't want to go back to living with her. We've all gotten our lives together without each other. It's just nice to have her around every once in a while."

She could relate to that. She could understand that. Kitty took a deep breath and released it slowly.

"I hope their salads have gotten better."

"Me too Kitten, if only for your sake."

* * *

The moment Violette stepped back inside the mansion she was cornered by Tabitha.

"How is he doing?"

The younger girl seemed a bit remorseful about the way she treated Pietro. They both knew he was an asshole but being an asshole back never resolved any issues.

"Great, actually" She didn't mention Luna. It wasn't her business, after all. "They found a job with S.H.I.E.L.D. and are making a decent living now."

"I don't want to go back to how it was" Tabitha crossed her arms over her chest, sighing. "But I do still care, you know?"

Violette nodded, squeezing her shoulder before going upstairs.

"So, how was it?"

She expected him to be there when she opened the door to her room.

"Like any meeting involving a two year old. Full of saliva, toys and chicken nuggets" She shrugged, her arms looping around Kurt's neck. There was this weird feeling inside her chest, like a balance she didn't remember lacking was restored. "But I'll be back there soon so it couldn't have been that bad, right?"


End file.
